The Basics of Competitive Swimming

In competitive swimming, the fastest swimmer to swim a given distance wins. The popularity of competitive swimming started in the 19th century. Today, there are 34 competitive swimming events divided into 17 male swimming events and 17 for females.

Men and women Olympic swimmers compete in the Summer Olympic Games’ 13 swimming events. The Olympic holds these competitions in a 50-meter pool. The international organization that governs competitive swimming is Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) also known as the International Swimming Federation.

There are four strokes in competitive swimming, which are the backstroke, the breaststroke, the butterfly and freestyle, where swimmers can use any stroke. Swimmers can swim individual strokes or a combination of strokes in an event called the individual medley or IM. In the individual medley, the order of the strokes is butterfly then backstroke, breaststroke and, lastly, freestyle.

The two kinds of swim relays are the medley and the freestyle. In the medley relay, the order of strokes should be backstroke first and then breaststroke followed by butterfly and, finally, freestyle. There are four competitors in a swim relay and they will swim a given distance based on the total length of the swim relay, which can be any of the three - 200 meters, 400 meters, and 800 meters. Swimmers can only swim freestyle on 800-meter distance.

Usually, a full-size pool used for competitive swimming in the United States is 50 meters long and 25 meters wide. This pool size allows both short and long racecourses. In competitive swimming, the equivalent of the referee or the umpire is the official. Disqualification of a swimmer happens when an official catches that swimmer breaking any rule regarding the particular stroke that he or she is using.  

Many communities, schools or organizations in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom sponsor swimming leagues for children or teenagers. These leagues consist of competitive swimming teams. They follow established swimming rules and use the standard swimming strokes. However, the distances in their competitive swimming events are shorter. They usually schedule swim meets during summer but not in direct association with any national or international swimming organization.

It is common for swimmers who belong in such local swim leagues to become part of a national swim team eventually. This is why many parents encourage their children to join such clubs and many youngsters agree that it is the great way to start their competitive swimming goals.