Freestyle swimming

Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to only a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common of all swimming competitions, with distances beginning with 50 meters (55 yards) and reaching 1,500 meters (1,600 yards), also known as the mile. The term 'freestyle stroke' is sometimes used as a synonym for 'front crawl', as front crawl is the fastest surface swimming stroke. It is now the most common stroke used in freestyle competitions.

This article is about the general unregulated swimming style. For the most common freestyle stroke, see Front crawl.

The first Olympics held open water swimming events, but after a few Olympics, closed water swimming was introduced. The front crawl or freestyle was the first event that was introduced.

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