Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It also has a different start from the other three competition swimming styles. The swimming style is similar to an upside down front crawl or freestyle. Both backstroke and front crawl are long-axis strokes. In individual medley backstroke is the second style swum; in the medley relay it is the first style swum.
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👉 Backstroke in the context of List of Olympic records in swimming
The International Olympic Committee recognises the fastest performances in pool-based swimming events at the Olympic Games. Men's swimming has been part of the official program of the Summer Olympics since the Games' modern inception in 1896; it was not until 1912 that women's events were held. The swimming events at the 1896 Olympic Games were held in a bay in the Aegean Sea with swimmers being required to swim to the shore—Hungarian swimmer Alfréd Hajós won two gold medals that year, saying "My will to live completely overcame my desire to win." The 1900 Summer Olympic Games in Paris had the swimming events take place in the River Seine, and the events at the 1908 Summer Olympics were held in a 100-metre pool surrounded by an athletics track in the White City Stadium in London.
Races are held in four swimming categories: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, over varying distances and in either individual or relay race events. Medley swimming races are also held, both individually and in relays, in which all four swimming categories are used. In the Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, both men and women competed in eighteen events in the pool. Of the 35 pool-based events, swimmers from the United States hold fifteen records, Australia five, France four, China, Canada and South Africa two each, and one each to Ireland, Great Britain, Russian Olympic Committee, Hungary, and Sweden. Nineteen of the current Olympic records were set at the 2024 Summer Olympics, seven in 2020, five in 2016, one in 2012, and three in 2008.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Backstroke
- 👉 Backstroke in the context of List of Olympic records in swimming
- Backstroke in the context of Swimmers
- Backstroke in the context of Individual medley
- Backstroke in the context of Ian Thorpe
- Backstroke in the context of Gordan Kožulj
- Backstroke in the context of Front crawl
Backstroke in the context of Swimmers
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports, with varied distance events in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley. In addition to these individual events, four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay. A medley relay consists of four swimmers who will each swim a different stroke, ordered as backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.
Swimming each stroke requires a set of specific techniques; in competition, there are distinct regulations concerning the acceptable form for each individual stroke. There are also regulations on what types of swimsuits, caps, jewelry and injury tape that are allowed at competitions. There are many health benefits to swimming, but it is possible for competitive swimmers to incur injuries such as tendinopathy in the shoulders or knees.
Backstroke in the context of Individual medley
Medley swimming is a combination of four different swimming strokes butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle (usually front crawl), into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay.
Backstroke in the context of Ian Thorpe
Ian James Thorpe AM (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the second most won by any Australian after fellow swimmer Emma McKeon. With three gold and two silver medals, Thorpe was the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics, held in his hometown of Sydney.
At the age of 14, Thorpe became the youngest male ever to represent Australia, and his victory in the 400 metre freestyle at the 1998 Perth World Championships made him the youngest-ever individual male World Champion. After that victory, Thorpe dominated the 400 m freestyle, winning the event at every Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific Swimming Championships until his break after the 2004 Olympics in Athens. At the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, he became the first person to win six gold medals in one World Championship. Aside from 13 individual long-course world records, Thorpe anchored the Australian relay teams, numbering the victories in the 4 × 100 m and the 4 × 200 m freestyle relays in Sydney among his five relay world records. His wins in the 200 m and 400 m and his bronze in the 100 m freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics made him the only male to have won medals in the 100–200–400 combination. He acquired the nickname "Thorpedo" because of his speed in swimming. Thorpe announced his retirement from competitive swimming in November 2006, citing waning motivation; he made a brief comeback in 2011 and 2012.
Backstroke in the context of Gordan Kožulj
Gordan Kožulj (born 28 November 1976) is a former backstroke swimmer from Croatia.During his sporting career, Gordan achieved numerous successes some of them are: US (1998), Europe (2000, 2001, 2002) and World (2000) swimming championship titles, and breaking European (100m backstroke) and World (200m backstroke World record progression 200 metres backstroke) short course swimming records. More specifically, at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships he won a silver medal in 200 m backstroke. In 2000 in Athens he became a world champion in 200 m backstroke (short course).In 1999 he won two silver medals at the European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. Later on, in 2000 and 2002 he became a European champion in 200 m backstroke. Furthermore, Gordan competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in Atlanta 1996 and followed by Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
Based on these results, Gordan was named Croatia's Sportsman of the Year (by Croatian sport journalists) and the Best Croatian Athlete in 2002 (by the Croatian Olympic Committee). Also, the President of Croatia Franjo Tuđman awarded him with the Order for achievements in sports (1998) and received the special prize of the Croatian Olympic Committee for the best promoter of Croatian sport in the world.
Backstroke in the context of Front crawl
The front crawl or forward crawl, also known as the Australian crawl or American crawl, is a swimming stroke usually regarded as the fastest of the four front primary strokes. As such, the front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle swimming competition, and hence freestyle is used metonymically for the front crawl. It is one of two long axis strokes, the other one being the backstroke. Unlike the backstroke, the breaststroke, and the butterfly stroke, the front crawl is not regulated by World Aquatics. Hence, in "freestyle" competitive swimming events, any stroke or combination of strokes is permissible. This style is sometimes referred to as the Australian crawl although this can sometimes refer to a more specific variant of front crawl.
The face-down swimming position allows for a good range of motion of the arm in the water, as compared to the backstroke, where the hands cannot be moved easily along the back of the spine. The above-water recovery of the stroke reduces drag, compared to the underwater recovery of breaststroke. The alternating arms also allow some rolling movement of the body for an easier recovery compared to, for example, butterfly. Finally, the alternating arm stroke makes for a relatively constant speed throughout the cycle.