Swimming / Topic 04
Freestyle
World Aquatics · 2026In short
Which stroke is allowed? · Staying at the surface
Which stroke is allowed?
In a freestyle race any swimming style is allowed; front crawl is the usual choice. In the freestyle section of a medley, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly are excluded. A swimmer must touch the wall with some part of the body at each turn and at the finish.
Staying at the surface
Some part of the body must normally break the surface. Complete submersion is allowed during the turn and for up to 15 metres after the start and each turn; the head must surface by that mark. A separate exception allows submersion when reaching for the finish after part of the head passes the 5 metre mark.
Independent explanations and translations, not official federation publications. Independent explanations of the supplied World Aquatics Competition Regulations, February 2026. This guide covers pool swimming only, not other aquatic disciplines. References use PDF viewer page numbers; topic numbers are editorial.
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