The Butterfly

In swimming there are four strokes; backstroke (a.k.a. back), breaststroke (a.k.a. breast), butterfly (a.k.a. fly), and freestyle (a.k.a. front crawl/free).  Each stroke has its own technique and rules for each race. Each swimmer has his/her own preference of which stroke they like best.  

 My personal favorite is the butterfly. A lot of swimmers think this is THE hardest stroke, I beg to differ. A swimmers’ hardest stroke depends on their style of swimming, coordination, and just in general, how long that swimmer has been swimming that stroke (personally, my worst stroke is by far back).

One of the most famous butterfly swimmers is none other than Michael Phelps. He won 8 Gold Medals in the Beijing Olympics, and more in the Athens Olympics as well.  

Anyway, back to fly. Fly is one of the harder strokes because it takes a lot of shoulder strength and coordination. It requires both arms to move forward at the same time and both legs to kick together while staying side by side. While swimming fly, the swimmer must keep both legs together at all times and both arms but come out of the water at the same time. While doing a turn for fly, the swimmer MUST touch the wall with both hands at the same time.

Butterfly is in many events. These events include; all of the medley relays, the 50, 100, and 200 meter (or yard, depending on the pool) fly, and the 100, 200, and 400 meter/yard individual medley (a.k.a. the IM).

Of all the strokes, fly is my favorite. I feel powerful and strong and accomplished. I feel proud to say that I am a butterflier.

History of Swimming

Ever since the stone ages, swimming has been around as a past time and a competitive activity. With multiple accomplishments and advances in stroke technique and suit technology, swimming has come very far since the cavemen. 

Some of the earliest references to swimming were in 2000 B.C. In 1800, competitive swimming began in Europe (swimming mainly breaststroke). In 1896, swimming was a part of the first Olympic Games in Athens (men only).  In 1912, women were first allowed to swim in the Olympic Games. Jump ahead to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing; Michael Phelps took home 8 gold medals in swimming. As you can see, the sport of swimming has had a long, proud history. (P.S. this is NOT a history lesson!!)

Each stroke and technique in itself has changed and evolved over time. The freestyle kick for example was created due to the British dislike of splashing. Butterfly, a variation of breaststroke, was developed by a University of Iowa swimmer, Jack Sieg, in 1935.

Stroke turns have been another large part of history in swimming. Each turn can affect whether you win the race, or lose the race. Turns have been modified and tweaked so that each swimmer can get on the wall and off the wall in less than 2 seconds.

Swimming is a not a sport that was invented recently. This sport has continued to grow and change for thousands of years.

The Time Commitment

For any athlete in all sports, there is a rather large time commitment.  Whether it is just afternoon practices or 2-a-days (practice in both the morning and afternoon), all athletes must commit to practice during certain time periods.

A high school varsity swimmer at East will swim 2-a-day practices, a total of 22.5 hours in a week. Varsity swimmers will swim 5:30 a.m. practices and 2.5 hour practices after school every day. Being a swimmer myself, I know what it is like to swim on the varsity schedule. It means late nights trying to keep up on homework and making time for friends (and work if you have a job) and early mornings, setting your alarm clock for 4:50 a.m. to make sure you leave the house by 4:10. In many of my classes I would end up falling asleep if we had to do any reading activities or bookwork because of the schedule.

 

Swimmers who swim at the USA level will swim anywhere from 12-24 hours in a week. For an elementary, middle, or high school student, this is a huge commitment. But being in the water sometimes 4 hours a day is what it takes. If your goal is to be the best in your school, state, or nationally, a large time commitment and making sacrifices like TV, and computer time is what it takes to be the best of the best.

USA Teams

All of the Olympic and nationally ranked swimmers started out the same way: swim lessons every summer until they joined a swim club. After a couple years only swimming in the summer, they began to swim year round. After even more years of this, they joined a USA Swim Club that costs hundreds a month. Swimming for 10-12 months out of a year, that’s what the best of the best do.

Central Iowa Aquatics (CIA) is one of the few USA Swimming Teams in Iowa. With hundreds of members, CIA is consistently one of the best teams in the state. With multiple practices a day to ensure everyone has the opportunity to practice; CIA is always working to help their swimmers.

Another rather large USA team in Iowa is the Iowa Flyers Swim Club, or IFly. This team is located in Iowa City, Iowa. They are another large team on the swimming scene when it comes to state competitions.

USA swimmers don’t just swim. They have dry land workouts as well.  Dry land workouts normally consist of crunches, push-ups, planks, stairs, and other activities to strengthen core muscle and upper body strength.  USA swimmers spend a great deal of time doing whatever they can to help their swimming.

USA swimmers are like gymnasts at the elite level; completely devoted and always working to improve themselves or their team, coach and their selves.