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Now that you are familiar with the technical rules of all four strokes, you will use those rules to officiate other events during a swim meet. The individual medley, the freestyle relay, and the medley relay have some additional rules to add to the stroke rules. Additionally, there are guidelines for officiating swimmers with a disability in USA Swimming meets. It’s time to learn these rules and guidelines.
The Individual Medley
The Individual Medley
We'll start with the individual medley, or IM, which uses all four strokes.
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Video transcript
Video transcript
The individual medley, or IM, is made up of the four strokes in the order of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. The technical rules for the IM are found in Article 101.6 of the rulebook.
The athlete will swim the prescribed distance in that order, completing one-fourth of the distance in each stroke. For example, the 100 IM in a 25 yard pool has a swimmer completing one length of each stroke starting with butterfly, then backstroke, breaststroke, and finishing with freestyle.
The athlete must swim the strokes as prescribed by the technical rules for each individual stroke. The only exception is freestyle, when the swimmer must be on the breast other than when executing a turn.
The turns, when changing from one stroke to another, conform to the finish rules for the stroke just completed. Let's take a look at those transitions.
When changing from butterfly to backstroke, the swimmer must touch the wall while on the breast with two hands separated and simultaneous at, above, or under the surface of the water. Once a legal touch has been made, the swimmer may turn in any manner. Once their feet leave the wall, the swimmer must be past vertical towards the back.
From backstroke to breaststroke, the swimmer must touch while on the back. Once a legal touch has been made, the swimmer may turn in any manner. The shoulders must be at or past vertical toward the breast once the swimmer’s feet leave the wall. The prescribed breaststroke form must be attained prior to the first arm stroke.
When transitioning from breaststroke to freestyle, the swimmer must touch the wall with two hands separated and simultaneous at, above, or under the surface of the water while on the breast. After the touch, the swimmer may then turn in any manner desired. They must return to the breast before any kick or stroke in the freestyle leg.
The swimmer may finish the last quarter of the race in any manner, as long as it is not in the style of butterfly, backstroke, or breaststroke.
The individual medley uses the technical rules for each stroke. Use these rules for the transitions between strokes to officiate the entire event
Click Next to start The Relay Races Lesson
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