To Mr. Scocca: have you ever swum competitively before? Do you know how to swim butterfly, let alone a proper freestyle? From your article, particularly the section in which you downplay the differences between individual events in swimming, it seems that you have no clue about swimming or even how to swim. If you did know the difference, you'd know that freestyle uses very different stroke (both arms come out of the water simultaneously in butterfly), kick (legs and feet remain together to perform a "dolphin" kick in butterfly), and breathing techniques (you exhale/inhale as your entire upper torso comes flying out of the water in butterfly, something you'd never do in freestyle). While it's relatively easy to learn freestyle (albeit, hard to master), it's relatively difficult to learn and master butterfly; it's also a lot more tiring in the long haul to do butterfly and this is why long distance swims are almost exclusively freestyle.

So to say that freestyle and butterfly are "mild" variations of each other is quite naive. You should consider editing that portion of the article out.

you are right, swimming strokes are radically different, yet the the poster has a point. when judges are needed to disqualify swimmers who are making "illegal" motions, especially in the breast stroke, it becomes a bit artificial, like walking in the olympics

just to clarify - there is no mandatory style for "freestyle". you can swim doggie-style if you believe it's the fastest stroke for you.

Actually, the front crawl (what we typically think of freestyle) must be swum in the freestyle portions of the Medley events (individual & relay).

And it's "doggie-paddle", not "doggie-style". Not that I wouldn't want to try that anyway.

Actually, the front crawl (what we typically think of freestyle) must be swum in the freestyle portions of the Medley events (individual & relay).

is this the only limitation on freestyle? i've seen swimmers in the olympics do butterfly in the 4x100m freestyle, these were from small countries who obviously did not have 4 freestyle swimmers

And it's "doggie-paddle", not "doggie-style".

hey, i prefer doggie-style :)

Please spare us your swim-geekery. In track and field, there is no run-skipping, or backwards running. you run the fastest way you can - that's what a race is all about. Have you ever seen anyone doing the butterfly at the beach? It's an artificial motion that only handicaps a racer. The fact that it's difficult to master does not justify it as an event. It would be difficult to perform in figure skating with a hockey player launching pucks at you - and no doubt it would be far more entertaining than still another swimming race. Track got rid of the standing broad jump - swimming can do without its silly strokes races.

you write as it personally bothers you. why? this is entertainment, and you always have the choice not to watch it, so what is the big deal?

at the beach you do see people do breast stroke, even the backstroke. Butterfly is rarely practiced by the non-professional, true, but i personally find it pleasing to watch

It would be difficult to perform in figure skating with a hockey player launching pucks at you

I would pay to watch this new sport. How about if it's a demonstration sport at the next Winter Olympics? :-)

I passed my US Navy swim test doing backstroke, after all "freestyle" means what works best for you. All my kids learned Breast Stroke first, and then Front Crawl later. We have plant allergies, so swimming is our healthy sport for life.

Actually are you even required to run in a "running race"? Would you be disqualified if you crawled on all fours or bent your body in to the shape of a hoop and rolled down the track?

Swimming should cut out the stupid swim-over-hurdles, and swim-over-a-really-tall-hurdle events, too. Who does that at the beach, anyway? Freaks. And swimming fast enough to propel oneself over a long stretch of water? Absurd. God, swimming is so stupid, it's practically comparable to that other sport where people run in a big circle over and over! They dont even have the challenge of performing a race any other way! Boring.

Oh and that running sport doesnt even involve guys in padded suits trying to hit each other before the ball crosses the special colored area-God, how lame. It shouldnt even call itself a sport. It also doesnt have anyone trying to run and throw a ball into a hollow metal circle--damn what a pathetic "sport" this running thing is!

Actually, as goofy as you can make hurdle races sound, at least they involve jumping and running - a rational combination for a race. If you were running in real life, you may have to jump over obstacles, so the hurdle races have a rational basis. Now track relays are another matter - I'd throw them out with the swimming relays. Why should anyone get two shots at a medal for running the same distance twice? The object would be to eliminate overlap as much as possible. Events should be different events, not the same event done multiple times. A race in which swimmers did different strokes in succession would be fine by me - it's the hair-splitting that makes no sense - unless you just want to create events for the sake of giving out more medals. There's a reason why swimmers will always hold the most-medals award, and it's not a good one.

I hate to think what you thoughts are on ice dancing or that useless ribbon twirling thingy that girls gymnastics has.

The Olympics definitely needs a reboot, I would totally agree that swimming, diving, and gymnastics are the most in need of a good cleaning. But there are few others that could stand to be tossed - the triple jump (WTF?? - there's a useful skill...)

Someone evidently never played Pitfall when he was a kid.

QED:

Actually, the front crawl (what we typically think of freestyle) must be swum in the freestyle portions of the Medley events (individual & relay).

And it's "doggie-paddle", not "doggie-style". Not that I wouldn't want to try that anyway.

I think the rule in an IM or medley relay is that you can do any stroke other than backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly; i.e. you don't have to do the forward crawl. Being both a swimming nerd and a lawyer, I have always wondered if you could get around this rule by swimming an illegal butterfly -- a couple of strokes with a one-arm recovery, or finishing with a one hand touch.