World Facts

In this stroke, both arms enter and leave the water at the same time, while the legs perform a dolphin kick. It was developed in the 1930s and evolved from the breaststroke. Swimming Coach David Armbruster developed the arm movement of the stroke at the University of lowa in 1934 and the following year one of his swimmers, Jack Sieg, developed the foot and leg movements. The two combined produced the butterfly. The stroke was not officially approved until 1953 and became an Olympic event in 1956. Maximum speed is 1.67 m (5.5 ft) a second.
Front crawl/freestyle
In 1844 two Native Americans competing in a swimming regatta in London introduced their new revolutionary overarm stroke. Flying Gull beat Tobacco t take the winner’s medal. The stroke was later developed by Englishman John Trudgen, and then by Australian Richard Cavill, who realized the importance of kicking the feet at the same time as moving the arms. Front crawl is the fastest swimming stroke and ahs a maximum speed of 1.71 m (5.6 ft) a second.