See what great swimming looks like.

On three occasions while teaching private lessons I was told, "I'm not trying to swim in the Olympics." Each of them felt I should just get on with how to swim, not these little details about how to move your arm, or your hand, or tighten your core. Likewise, you are (probably) not trying to swim in the Olympics either, and yet the Olympians have figured out the simplest, most efficient way to move through the water..

The best way for you to swim, is very nearly like they swim, with some notable exceptions. (After all, some of them aren't very normal humans like the rest of us). So, here are some videos of swimmers worthy of emulation. These videos are of the greatest swimmers in the world, so you can emulate their strokes, and learn the most efficient way to swim across the pool.

On YouTube, you can pause the video and go frame by frame by pressing "," (comma) and "." (period). Slowing it down can help you see what they are doing bit by bit.

Abbreviations

WT: World Title (First at the annual World Aquatics Championship a.k.a. "Worlds")

WR: World Record (Fastest Swim at a sanctioned meet in history)

AR: American Record (Fastest American at any USA sanctioned meet in history)

1. Front Crawl
2. Backstroke
3. Breaststroke
4. Butterfly
5. Relays
6. Dolphin and Flutter Kick
7. Frog Kick versus Whip Kick
8. Starts
9. Turns
10. Distance World Records

This is commonly called freestyle, because it is swam in freestyle events. The trouble is that freestyle events are actually free-style (meaning however you want), and the stroke most people swim is the front crawl, which is the fastest stroke.

TV Cam: Pan Zhanle 100m Free WR

UW Cam: Caeleb Dressel 100m Free AR

Transform your freestyle in 33 minutes (This video is from a great YouTube channel called "Effortless Swimming" for adults to learn freestyle).

Notice:

• Body lays flat at the surface of the water (attempt to raise hips above head)
• Recovery of Arms: relaxed, quickly, over the body
• Arms pause in steamline at the beginning of stroke
• Pull moves through finger, wrist, elbow, arm
• Power triangle in pull (elbows bent)
• Breath starts before arm exits the water; finishes before arm passes head
• Rotation of shoulder and hips throughout the stroke
• Flat body position through the breath (body and legs don't sink)

TV Cam: Thomas Ceccon 100m Back WR

UW Cam: Ryan Murphy 100m Back WT

Notice:

• Head stays still at the surface
• The shoulders and hips rotate together
• Hands enter pinkie first with arm in a straight line towards wall
• Pull occurs with fingers pointing towards wall, elbows towards ground
• Power Triangle (bent elbows)
• End stroke with shoulder and hip turn (attempt to turn hips before shoulders)
• Steady flutter kick

TV Cam: Adam Peaty's 100m Breast WR

UW Cam: Katie Douglass 200m Breast WR

Notice:

• Streamline (straight body line) and flat body position through the glide (attempt to swim downhill)
• Hands separate, and then pull straight to the chest.
• Throw hands forward on surface like a speed boat while legs come up for kick
• Upper body is in streamline before the kick begins
• Whip kick (quick heels) and glide

TV Cam: Caeleb Dressel 100m Fly WR

UW Cam: Caeleb Dressel 100m Fly WT

Notice:

• Two kicks per stroke
• Relatively flat body position (attempt to swim downhill)
• Arms land a bit wider than shoulder width
• There is a short pause with both hands in front.
• Very strong catch with hands
• Power triangle (bent elbows)
• Hands pull underwater in an hourglass shape (the faster you swim, the tighter the hourglass will be)
• Breath begins before arms exit the water (early breath)
• Arms have an explosive exit straight into recovery (launch them forward)
• Arms recover with elbows straight and hands less than 6 inches above surface
• Eyes look down before the arms land. (head leads your movement)

Freestyle Relay: 2008 Mens 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay (One of the greatest comebacks in history)

Medley Relay: 2024 Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay WR

Dolphin Kick (Used Underwater and in Butterfly)

Video: Actual Dolphin

Analysis of Caeleb Dressel's Dolphin Kicks by Derek Maas

UW Cam: Caeleb Dressel 100m Fly WT

Notice:

• 90-degree angle of knees
• Maintain streamline consistently, arms move as little as possible
• Power comes from kicking in both directions and maintaining tempo
• The faster the tempo, the smaller the kick
• The slower the tempo, the bigger the kick.

Flutter Kick (Used in Front Crawl and Backstroke)

Example of Flutter Kick

Notice: The same things from dolphin kick, except legs alternate.

Frog Kick (Less Efficient than Whip Kick)

Video: Actual Frog

Kid doing Frog Kick

Notice:

• Knees turn out
• Feet turn out
• Kick back with feet and legs
• Glide!

Whip Kick (Used in Breaststroke)

Analysis of Adam Peaty's Breaststroke

Notice:

• Knees stray slightly wider than hips
• Hips remain high in the water
• Feet turn out wider than knees
• Legs propel by pushing the water back, and then snapping the legs together.
• Glide!

Block Starts

Analysis of Caeleb Dressel's Start by Derek Maas

Link Straight to His Start

Notice:

• Dominant foot at front of block
• Non-dominant foot back, knee at 90-degree angle
• Head starts over the water, shoulders start over edge of pool.
• Elbows start bent for immediate force
• Arms are allowed to swing backward to get greatest force
• Arms are in streamline far before the hands hit the water
• Body enters in a slightly piked position

Back Starts

Video: Backstroke Start

Notice:

• Back is vertical; body is as high out of water as possible, knees at less than 90 degrees
• Head goes back, arms are thrown over the head, towards the sky, into streamline
• Legs do not push up, but push across the pool
• Dive into the water on your back

Flip Turns

Back Turn: Ryan Murphy 100m Back WT

Free Turn: Pan Zhanle 100m Free WR

Notice:

• Arms go to body side, remain still and help rotate, and then transition to streamline
• Legs hit at approximately 90 degrees, feet about hip width apart, body facing sky
• Push off (and rotate onto stomach for free) once in streamline (happens immediately if done right)

Open Turn

Fly Turn: Caeleb Dressel 100m Fly WT

Breast Turn: Tatjana Schoenmaker 200m Breast WT

Notice:

• Rotate legs tightly underneath body while turning onto side
• Elbow your brother, call your mother
• Legs hit at approximately 90 degrees, feet about hip width apart, body facing wall
• Push off and rotate onto stomach once in streamline

Crossover Turn

Tutorial by Ashlee Linn

Notice:

• You must touch the wall before you rotate onto your stomach. Touch the wall on your side
• Rotate body so legs hit at approximately 90 degrees, feet about hip width apart, body facing sky
• Push off and rotate onto stomach once in streamline

TV Cam: Leon Marchand 500y Free WR

UW Cam: Leon Marchand 400m IM WR

TV Cam: Katie Ledecky 800m Free WR

Notice: He is really fast for a long time