2. By Jack Edis Swimming

3. CONTENTS Swimming Front crawl Competitive front crawl Backstroke Competitive backstroke Breaststroke Competitive breaststroke Butterfly Competitive butterfly Medley Dives and turns Nottingham clubs

4. SWIMMING Swimming is a sport done in water and is now the one of the most popular sports in the world. Some people swim for fun but others in competitions.

5. FRONT CRAWL Front Crawl is the fastest of the 4 strokes. It can also be known as freestyle because it is the fastest so most swimmers choose that. Front crawl kick, can be known as flutter kick, needs strength from the legs. One leg kicks then the other, It’s a simple kick to master and is a vital part of the stroke. However Front Crawl arms are quite a bit harder. When the left arm enters the water it pulls under the water, which is where you get the speed, the right arms starts the same cycle.

6. COMPETITIVE FRONT CRAWL There isn’t actually front crawl races they are known as freestyle but most people do front crawl as it is faster. It is the last stroke in the individual medley. Freestyle is the most races you can do because you can choose from: 50m 100m 200m 400m And 1500m for boys or 800m for girls

7. BACKSTROKE Lots of people find backstroke difficult to learn because you cant see where you are going. You have to rotate your body but keep your head still with extremely straight arms. Backstroke kick is the same as front crawl but the stroke is very different.

8. COMPETITIVE BACKSTROKE In competitive backstroke you don’t dive in so your feet grip on the side of the pool and your arms hold the block. When the referee says ‘take your mark’ you tense up and go on GO. This is the 2 nd stroke on the individual medley but 1 st on the medley relay because you start from the water. In Backstroke there aren’t as many events to choose from as front crawl. These are: 50m 100m 200m Also this is my favourite stroke.

9. BREASTSTROKE Breaststroke is the oldest and slowest of the 4 strokes. Until the late 1800s it was almost the only stroke anyone swam. People often have their heads out of the water. At perfection the stroke is symmetrical but it is very hard to master this. It is the least streamlined out of all strokes because you breath every stroke. Your head should stay still and using your arm strength when pulling to breath.

10. COMPETITIVE BREASTSTROKE In breaststroke competitively you have to whip your legs round using a narrow kick. Also shoot your arms forward after a strong pull. Breaststroke is 2 nd in the medley relay but 3 rd in the Individual Relay. Breaststroke events are : 50m 100m 200m

11. BUTTERFLY Butterfly is considered the most difficult stroke because it uses up a lot of energy. You don’t use your legs in fly it is undulation which is where you have a sort of wave going through your body.

12. COMPETITIVE BUTTERFLY Competitive butterfly is very hard to do. There is sprint fly and long distance fly. It is 1 st in the individual medley but 3 rd in the medley relay. The events are: 50m 100m 200m (rare)

13. MEDLEY Medley is all of the 4 strokes in one race. There is Individual Medley and the Medley relay. In the Individual medley there is 3 types these are: 100, 200 and 400. The order is fly, backstroke, breaststroke then front crawl. In the relay it goes backstroke, breaststroke, fly then front crawl.

14. Dives and turns In swimming there is 2 types of dives and 2 types of turns. These dives are racing dive or track dive and grab dive, the turns are a tumble turn and breaststroke or fly turn. You would normally do a racing dive in front crawl and a grab dive in fly and breaststroke but you don’t have to because I do a racing dive in everything. Also you do a tumble turn on backstroke and front crawl and a breaststroke turn on breaststroke and fly. Unlike dives you have to do these turns you cant choose.

15. NOTTINGHAM CLUBS In Nottingham there are many swimming clubs these are: Mansfield, Bramcote, Falcon, Carlton Forum, Arnold CABSC, Sherwood, Sutton in Ashfield, Newark, Radford Southwell, Nottingham Northern, Retford, Kimberely Portland, Nottingham Leander, Hucknall and Linby dolphins, Worksop dolphins The top swimmers in each club go to nova centurion where they all train together. In development B squad and A squad. There is Newark and Sherwood which is just development and then there is Bassetlaw, Mansfield and Nottingham which are just normal. However in Nottingham there is b2 and b1. I swim for CABSC