I'm curious why the order of IM is as it is--butterfly, back, ***, then free? It doesn't seem to be the order of speed.
Also, has there been any medalist in world competitions whose "freestyle" was not front crawl (not necessarily in a medley, but maybe in just "Freestyle" competition)?
What about dolphin kicking all the way? Does that count as a kind of stroke?
I think that would count as butterfly. The USMS butterfly stroke rule is open to interpretation, I'd say. It does say "From the beginning of the first arm pull, the body shall be kept on the ***. Both arms must be brought forward over the water and pulled back simultaneously" but it doesn't specifically say that you are required to pull. The FINA rule suggests a little more strongly that you must pull: "SW 8.2 Both arms shall be brought forward together over the water and brought backward simultaneously through-out the race"
I'd be interested to hear an official's take on this.
What about dolphin kicking all the way? Does that count as a kind of stroke?
I think that would count as butterfly. The USMS butterfly stroke rule is open to interpretation, I'd say. It does say "From the beginning of the first arm pull, the body shall be kept on the ***. Both arms must be brought forward over the water and pulled back simultaneously" but it doesn't specifically say that you are required to pull. The FINA rule suggests a little more strongly that you must pull: "SW 8.2 Both arms shall be brought forward together over the water and brought backward simultaneously through-out the race"
I'd be interested to hear an official's take on this.
