Greenbriar Dolphin Swim Team

If you're not a former swimmer, the strokes and their rules can be confusing, so we'll briefly describe the strokes below. The rules below are the USA Swimming rules as modified for use in the NVSL. Teams in other leagues may have slightly different rules.

Freestyle is defined as any means of swimming across the pool. Any stroke and kick are acceptable. There are, however, a few don'ts associated with this stroke, specifically: (1) You cannot walk on the bottom or pull yourself along using the lane lines and (2) In a 50-meter race (two pool lengths), you must touch the wall at the 25 meter end before touching the wall at the 50 meter end (this may seem obvious, but sometimes swimmers miss the wall at the turning end of the pool).

Like the freestyle, almost anything goes on the backstroke as long as you stay on your back. Eventually, swimmers will learn to use the overhead backstroke flags and the lane line markings to know where they are in the pool and count their strokes from the flags to the wall.

Backstroke starts are different from all others because the swimmer is in the water, feet pressed against the wall, and hands hanging on to either another swimmer's legs or the lip of the pool awaiting the starter's signal. "Legs" must be grabbed below the knee. Persons serving in an official capacity (such as timers or coaches) may not serve as “legs.”

The backstroke flip turn is the one exception to staying on your back and can be used only as part of a turn (not a finish) at the pool wall.

The breaststroke has two components: the kick and the arm pull. The pull and its recovery must both be under the breast and cannot extend back farther than the waist area. The kick is a "frog" kick and the toes must be pointed outward during the propulsive part of the kick. The arm pull and kick must be in an alternating sequence and the elbows must stay below the water except for when tagging the wall at the finish. Breaststroke turns and finishes require a simultaneous two-hand touch.

Butterfly (or fly) is the hardest stroke for most swimmers to perfect. There are two components of the fly: the arm pull and the kick. The arm pull must be an over-the-water recovery (elbows breaking the surface of the water) with the arms moving simultaneously. The kick is a dolphin-style kick with both legs moving simultaneously. Unlike the breaststroke, there is no requirement to alternate the kick and pull. Turns and finishes require a simultaneous two-hand touch at the wall.

The individual medley (or IM) is when an individual swims each of the four strokes in the following sequence: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. We swim a 100-meter IM, which means that 25 meters, or one pool length, of each stroke is swum. In a 100-meter IM, every turn is a stroke change and stroke finish rules apply. This means no backstroke flip turns.

There are two kinds of relays: the freestyle relay and the medley relay. Both involve a team of four swimmers, each swimming one-quarter of the total distance. In the freestyle relay, all 4 swimmers swim the freestyle. In the medley relay, the sequence is: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle, with each swimmer swimming one stroke.

In all relays, each swimmer must wait until the previous swimmer touches the wall before leaving the deck. Running starts or pushes from teammates are not allowed.