Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as Individual Medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a Medley Relay.
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2 Medley Relay 3 Rules |
Individual medley consists of a single swimmer swimming four different strokes in one competition.
Individual Medley consists of four strokes. Usually each stroke has an equal part of the overall distance, i.e. 1/4th of the overall distance is swum in one stroke. The strokes are swum in this order:
There are a number of competitions swum regularly in individual medley, both by men and women. The competitions are limited as that every distance must consist of at least 4 lanes or a multiple of 4 lanes, such that each stroke can be swum always for an entire lane and no strokes have to be changed in mid-lane, while each stroke is swum 1/4th of the overall distance
The technique for individual medley events does not differ much from the technique for the separate events for the four strokes. The only main difference is the technique needed at the change from one stroke to the next stroke. Each section has to be completed as described by the rules of this section.
The butterfly section has to be ended with both hands touching the wall at the same time, but has to leave the wall on the back for backstroke. Most swimmers do this by pulling the knees underneath of their body after touching the wall with both hands, and then rolling backwards on their back. During the roll the arms are not stretched, but rather hold close to the body with the hands a few centimeters in front of the chest. This reduces the rotational moment and allows for a faster turn. At the end of the backwards roll the swimmer sinks under water and extends the arms forward. The swimmer then pushes off the wall with both legs and starts the regular underwater phase of backstroke, usually a butterfly kick for 15m before surfacing and resuming normal backstroke.
The backstroke section has to be ended with touching the wall while lying on the back. For the subsequent breaststroke the swimmer has to leave the wall on the breast. Most swimmers prefer to do a backwards roll by pulling the knees close to the body and pushing with the hand upwards against the wall to achieve rotational movement. After a 180 degree turn, the swimmer is under water on his breast and extends the hands forward before pushing off the wall with both legs. The swimmer continues with the regular breaststroke, consisting of a sliding phase, a underwater pull-down, and another sliding phase before surfacing and resuming the normal breaststroke.
The breaststroke section has to be ended with both hands touching the wall at the same time while on the breast. A normal breaststroke turn is usually used to turn and push off the wall. After leaving the wall the freestyle underwater phase is initiated, followed by regular freestyle on the surface after 15m or less. It is important to note that for medley events freestyle means any style other than backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly.
Medley relay consists of four different swimmers in one relay competition, each swimming one stroke.
Medley relay is swum by four different swimmers, each swimmer swimming one of the four strokes. Backstroke is the first event as backstroke is started from the water. If backstroke would not be the first event, the starting backstroke swimmer and the finishing previous swimmer could block each other. The remaining strokes are sorted according to the speed, with breaststroke being the slowest and freestyle being the fastest stroke. The order of the strokes is as follows:
There are a number of competitions swum regularly in medley relay, both by men and women.
The technique for medley relay events does not differ much from the technique for the separate events for the four strokes. The first swimmer swims the 50 or 100m backstroke normally. The only difference for the following swimmers is that there is no start signal, but rather the previous swimmer completing its turn by touching the wall signals the start for the subsequent swimmer. It is also important to note that for medley events freestyle means any style other than backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly.
These are the official rules of the FINA regarding Medley swimming:
Individual Medley
Stroke Order
Competitions
Technique
Medley Relay
Stroke Order
Competitions
Technique
Rules
Note, that Freestyle includes a special regulation for medley events:
Additionally, the normal rules of relay events apply: