Butterfly stroke facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The butterfly (often called the fly) is a swimming stroke where you swim on your chest. Both arms move together, and your legs do a special "dolphin kick". It's harder than other strokes like the breaststroke or front crawl, needing good technique and strong muscles. It's the newest competitive swimming style, first used in 1933, and came from the breaststroke.

Why the Butterfly Stroke is Fast and Hard
History of the Butterfly Stroke
Butterfly Stroke Technique
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Why the Butterfly Stroke is Fast and Hard

The butterfly can be super fast! When your arms and legs pull at the same time, you get a burst of speed. But it's also tiring, and you slow down a lot when your arms come out of the water. So, overall, it's a bit slower than the front crawl for longer races.

Unlike other strokes, the butterfly really punishes mistakes. If your technique isn't perfect, it's very hard to swim well, even if you're strong. Many swimmers think it's the hardest style. The trickiest part for beginners is getting both arms, your head, and shoulders out of the water at the same time to breathe. Once you get it, though, it looks smooth and fast!

History of the Butterfly Stroke

The butterfly stroke has an interesting history! An Australian swimmer named Sydney Cavill is often given credit for starting the idea of the butterfly stroke around the early 1900s.

Later, in 1933, a swimmer named Henry Myers used a butterfly-like stroke in a competition. The butterfly style actually grew out of the breaststroke. A swimming coach named David Armbruster from the University of Iowa studied the breaststroke. He wanted to find a way to make it faster by reducing drag (the water slowing you down). In 1934, Armbruster found a way to bring the arms forward over the water instead of underwater. He called this new style "butterfly." It was much faster!

A year later, in 1935, Jack Sieg, another swimmer from the University of Iowa, developed a new kick. He kicked his legs together like a fish tail, first on his side, then face down. He called this the Dolphin fishtail kick. Armbruster and Sieg quickly realized that combining the butterfly arms with two dolphin kicks per cycle made a super-fast swimming style.

At first, the dolphin kick wasn't allowed in breaststroke races by FINA (the international swimming federation). So, some swimmers used the butterfly arms with a breaststroke kick in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. By 1938, almost all breaststroke swimmers were using this "butterfly" style. But it was still seen as just a different way to swim breaststroke.

Finally, in 1952, FINA officially recognized the butterfly as its own separate swimming style with its own rules. The 1956 Summer Olympics were the first Olympic Games where the butterfly was a separate event. Women competed in the 100m butterfly, and men in the 200m butterfly.

Butterfly Stroke Technique

Swimming the butterfly involves moving your arms and legs together at the same time. Good technique is super important to swim this style well. Your body also moves in a wave-like motion, which helps you move through the water and makes it easier to lift your body for breathing and arm recovery.

You start lying on your chest, with your arms stretched out in front and your legs extended behind you.

Arm Movement in Butterfly

The butterfly arm stroke has three main parts: the pull, the push, and the recovery.

Catching the Water: From the start, your hands sink a little, palms facing out and slightly down. Then your hands move out to form a "Y" shape. This is how you "catch" the water.
Pull and Push: Next, you pull your hands in a semicircle, keeping your elbows higher than your hands. Your hands point towards the middle of your body and down. This is the "pull." Then, you "push" the water backward under your body and to your sides. You push your arms about one-third of the way to your hips. This helps you get ready for the recovery. Your hands move fastest at the very end of the push.
Recovery: The recovery is when you swing your arms sideways over the water surface back to the front. Your arms should be straight. This arm recovery is a quick, powerful movement. You use the speed from your push and a strong dolphin kick to help lift your arms and shoulders out of the water. It's important not to put your hands back in the water too early, as this would slow you down. Your hands should enter the water at shoulder width, with your thumbs going in first.

Leg Movement in Butterfly

Your legs move together in a "dolphin kick," which uses different muscles than other kicks. Your shoulders come above the water with a strong kick downwards and a medium kick upwards. Your body then goes back underwater with a strong kick downwards and upwards. A smooth, wavy body motion connects these kicks.

Your feet should be pressed together to get the most power from the water. Your feet naturally point downwards, helping you push water down and move your head up.

In competitive butterfly, there's no rule about how many dolphin kicks you must do. Most swimmers use two kicks per arm cycle. One kick happens when your arms pull, and the other when your arms push.

Breathing in Butterfly

You only have a short time to breathe in the butterfly stroke. If you miss this window, it becomes very hard to swim. Good butterfly swimmers time their breaths with their body's wave-like motion. This makes breathing easier.

You start to lift your head during the "press" part of the stroke, as your hands move under your chest. Your body will naturally rise. With little effort, you can lift your head to breathe in through your mouth. Your head goes back into the water after your arms come out and swing forward. If your head stays out too long, it makes the arm recovery harder. You breathe out through your mouth and nose underwater until your next breath.

Usually, swimmers breathe every other stroke. This can be kept up for long distances. Breathing every stroke can sometimes slow a swimmer down. However, very experienced swimmers, like Michael Phelps, can breathe every stroke without losing speed. Some swimmers also use a "two up, one down" method, breathing for two strokes, then keeping their head down for one. For short races, some swimmers can even hold their breath for the whole race! It's important to keep your head low when you breathe to avoid your hips dropping, which creates drag and slows you down.

Body Movement in Butterfly

Swimming butterfly is much easier if you use your core muscles and have good timing. Your body moves in a wave-like way, controlled by your core. As your chest presses down, your hips go up, and your bottom breaks the water surface, leading into a smooth kick. During the push phase of your arms, your chest goes up, and your hips are at their lowest point. In this stroke, the second kick in the cycle is usually stronger than the first, as it flows better with your body's movement.

Modern butterfly style involves very little up-and-down movement of the body.

Starting the Butterfly Race

The butterfly uses the regular swimming start. After you dive in, you glide underwater, then start doing dolphin kicks underwater. Swimming underwater reduces drag (the resistance from breaking the water surface) and saves energy. Rules allow you to swim up to 15 meters underwater before your head must break the surface and you start regular swimming.

Turns and Finish in Butterfly

For turns and the finish, both hands must touch the wall at the same time while you are still swimming face down. You touch the wall with both hands, bending your elbows slightly. This helps you push off the wall and turn sideways.

One hand leaves the wall and moves forward underwater. At the same time, you pull your legs closer and move them under your body towards the wall. The second hand leaves the wall and moves forward over the water. This is often called an "open turn". Your legs touch the wall, and your hands are at the front. You sink underwater and push off the wall in a streamlined position, with your hands stretched out in front. Like the start, you can swim up to 15 meters underwater before your head must break the surface. Most swimmers do dolphin kicks after pushing off.

To finish the race, you must touch the wall with both hands at the same time, on the same horizontal level.