Why certain strokes?

Last week I had a visitor from a remote village in Alaska - he has never watched TV, never read a newspaper, and he has never seen anybody swim. Here is our conversation: Eskimo: So what do like to do for fun ? Trojan: I really enjoy swimming every day and I compete in swimming events against other people. Eskimo: Oh - I have never seen anybody swim as a sport. The water is a little bit cold where I live – but it sounds like fun. You said there are swimming events – what does that mean ? Trojan: Well - you can compete in different distances against other people and you are also timed. The distances are between 50 and 1500 Meters and we also have four different strokes. If you are really good, you can compete against other people in the Olympics. Eskimo: I heard about the Olympics - I am not from Mars. But what are different strokes - what do you mean with that ? Trojan: Well - Freestyle is the fastest - there you can swim which ever way you want, but the fastest is the Crawl. You alternate pulling with your arms and kick with your legs. Then we have the Breaststroke, Butterfly and Backstroke. Eskimo: Backstroke ? What is that ? Trojan: You swim on your back, head first. Eskimo: Why ? Trojan: Because that's one of the strokes. Eskimo: Well, that may be a good reason for you, but I don’t think they have backwards running or backwards cycling – do they ? Trojan: No – not really. Eskimo: So instead of swimming the fastest way possible, you turn your back and make it a little more difficult and slower ? Trojan: yes - that's basically it. Breaststroke is even slower and you have to move with both legs / arms at the same time, like a frog. Eskimo: A frog ? Sounds something like a bunny-hop in the water ? Do they have bunny-hopping on land as a sport ? Trojan: Not really - they pretty much just run and jump on land. Eskimo: So if you can swim on your stomach and your back, is there also a side-stroke in your swimming events ? Trojan: No – not any more – I think they used to have this, but it did not catch on. Eskimo: Why not – you might as well – or how about going with your feet first – I bet that would be even more difficult ? Trojan: This is just we started doing over the last 70 years. Eskimo: So - who is the best swimmer at these Olympics Games people always tell me about ? Trojan: Well - there is one guy who can all these different events and won a whole bunch of them and there is another guy who won two of the Freestyle events and got close in a third. Eskimo: Well - these other strokes sound really strange to me -- I think the best swimmer should be the fastest. Who really cares who can go the fastest on their back or swim like a frog. Trojan: But it is really difficult to be fast at all these different events at the same time. Eskimo: It is also difficult to run backwards really fast or jump on one leg really fast for a mile. So this Freestyle guy is the fastest swimmer ? Trojan: Well - not really - he is the best at the 200m and 400m. That takes about 1:45 min and 3:40 min. Eskimo: That's not very long - my sledge dogs can run for days without getting tired -- I think they are better athletes than your swimmers. What about the guy winning the shortest event, shouldn't he be the best swimmer out there ? He is the fastest. Trojan: Well - he can only swim the 50 -- that's not enough if another guy can win 2,3 or four events. Eskimo: But he is the fastest - that means he is the best. These longer events, don't seem to be very long - I heard people run for over 2 hours - and they don't even run backwards. Trojan: Well - you really have to understand the sport to judge who is the best. Eskimo: You may be right - but I still don't understand why people would swim anything else than Freestyle....

Last week I had a visitor from a remote village in Alaska - he has never watched TV, never read a newspaper, and he has never seen anybody swim. Here is our conversation: Eskimo: So what do like to do for fun ? Trojan: I really enjoy swimming every day and I compete in swimming events against other people. Eskimo: Oh - I have never seen anybody swim as a sport. The water is a little bit cold where I live – but it sounds like fun. You said there are swimming events – what does that mean ? Trojan: Well - you can compete in different distances against other people and you are also timed. The distances are between 50 and 1500 Meters and we also have four different strokes. If you are really good, you can compete against other people in the Olympics. Eskimo: I heard about the Olympics - I am not from Mars. But what are different strokes - what do you mean with that ? Trojan: Well - Freestyle is the fastest - there you can swim which ever way you want, but the fastest is the Crawl. You alternate pulling with your arms and kick with your legs. Then we have the Breaststroke, Butterfly and Backstroke. Eskimo: Backstroke ? What is that ? Trojan: You swim on your back, head first. Eskimo: Why ? Trojan: Because that's one of the strokes. Eskimo: Well, that may be a good reason for you, but I don’t think they have backwards running or backwards cycling – do they ? Trojan: No – not really. Eskimo: So instead of swimming the fastest way possible, you turn your back and make it a little more difficult and slower ? Trojan: yes - that's basically it. Breaststroke is even slower and you have to move with both legs / arms at the same time, like a frog. Eskimo: A frog ? Sounds something like a bunny-hop in the water ? Do they have bunny-hopping on land as a sport ? Trojan: Not really - they pretty much just run and jump on land. Eskimo: So if you can swim on your stomach and your back, is there also a side-stroke in your swimming events ? Trojan: No – not any more – I think they used to have this, but it did not catch on. Eskimo: Why not – you might as well – or how about going with your feet first – I bet that would be even more difficult ? Trojan: This is just we started doing over the last 70 years. Eskimo: So - who is the best swimmer at these Olympics Games people always tell me about ? Trojan: Well - there is one guy who can all these different events and won a whole bunch of them and there is another guy who won two of the Freestyle events and got close in a third. Eskimo: Well - these other strokes sound really strange to me -- I think the best swimmer should be the fastest. Who really cares who can go the fastest on their back or swim like a frog. Trojan: But it is really difficult to be fast at all these different events at the same time. Eskimo: It is also difficult to run backwards really fast or jump on one leg really fast for a mile. So this Freestyle guy is the fastest swimmer ? Trojan: Well - not really - he is the best at the 200m and 400m. That takes about 1:45 min and 3:40 min. Eskimo: That's not very long - my sledge dogs can run for days without getting tired -- I think they are better athletes than your swimmers. What about the guy winning the shortest event, shouldn't he be the best swimmer out there ? He is the fastest. Trojan: Well - he can only swim the 50 -- that's not enough if another guy can win 2,3 or four events. Eskimo: But he is the fastest - that means he is the best. These longer events, don't seem to be very long - I heard people run for over 2 hours - and they don't even run backwards. Trojan: Well - you really have to understand the sport to judge who is the best. Eskimo: You may be right - but I still don't understand why people would swim anything else than Freestyle....