- > unveiling it to the confusion of officials and competitors in a 150 yard medley race in 1933
The article doesn't say, but did the medley relay/IM become a 4 stroke event around the same time in 1952 when FINA recognized it as a new stroke? Funny to see a 150 yard event mentioned since it seems like such an odd distance nowadays.
- butterfly is interesting because it's faster than breaststroke (mentioned) but slower than freestyle. it also consumes far more energy than any other stroke.
to that end, i'm not sure why it exists, except that it's truly a unique style.
* i also still hold my high school's butterfly record, 20 years on.
- The article fails to mention that until the 1970's, the frog kick was a legal kick when swimming butterfly. After that, the dolphin kick became mandatory. Doc Councilman's _The Science of Swimming_ was not mentioned. I don't have a copy handy, band I would bet the stroke is discussed extensively.
by AtlasBarfed
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- Butterfly is the "three point shot" of swimming. If you can do a pool length of butterfly you are a "real" swimmer, kind of like a non-prayer three point shot implies you actually played basketball.
- I never quite understood why there are Olympic medals for Butterfly swimming, but not things like "100m hop-on-one-foot sprint"
Like, why is being good at a deliberately-inefficent form of movement worth a medal in only this one case?
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