Grade 9 Common Mistakes in Freestyle Presentation

Common Mistakes in Freestyle

Brief History of Swimming

• Prehistoric man learnt to swim in order to cross rivers and lakes 

• 2500 BC - There were Egyptian hieroglyphics that depicted swimming.

• 17th Century - Japanese Emperor ruled that school children should learn swimming.

• In early 19th century, the National Swimming Society of Great Britain began to hold competitions. 

Brief History of Swimming (Continued)

• Most early swimmers used the breaststroke, or a form of it

• 1846 (Please note this corrected date) - The first swimming championship in Sydney Australia was held.

• 1896 - The sport made its debut at the Olympic Games

• 1908 - The Federation Internationale De Natation de Amateur (FINA) was form. 

Freestyle History

• The first mention of the stroke in a competitive context was reported by The Times newspaper in 1844.

• Based on a stroke used by native South Americans, the first version of the crawl featured a scissor kick.

• In the late 1880s, Frederick Cavill travelled to the South Seas, where he saw the natives performing a crawl with a flutter kick. 

• Cavill settled in Australia, where he taught the stroke that was to become the famous Australian crawl.

Freestyle History (Continued)

• In 1922 Johnny Weissmuller became the first person to swim 100m freestyle in less than a minute.

• Considered the fastest of the four competitive strokes, it is swum almost universally in competitive swimming. 

• For more information - https://www.swimming.org/sport/history-of-front-crawl/

Freestyle Kicks - Coaching Points

• Keep a straight leg

• Kick from the hips

• Point your toes

• Small, fast kicks

• Kick feet at the surface

• Create white water

Freestyle Pull - Coaching Points

• Roll your body

• On recovery, hands low

• Maintain high elbow

• Hand close to body

• Move in a straight line

• Pull and roll

• Stiff forearm and begin recovery

Breathing - Coaching Points

• Stroke and roll head to the side

• Non pulling arm in front

• Keep head low with side of face in water

• Look behind you

• Breathe in through mouth and breathe out through nose

• Bring arm over water

• Finish stroke