I am sending this small article to ask a question I am curious about. I will participate for the first time in my life in an open water swimming competition at the end of this year.
I visited the FINA web pages to get information about the rules, but I don't really find the information I am looking for. It says that freestyle is to be used, but what I am wondering about is if you are allowed to switch stroke in the middle of the race. Crawl wears me out after a while during my training sessions so I tend to switch to backstroke for a short period of time which allows me to "rest" before I switch back. Is something like this allowed during an open water competion as well?
I visited the FINA web pages to get information about the rules, but I don't really find the information I am looking for. It says that freestyle is to be used, but what I am wondering about is if you are allowed to switch stroke in the middle of the race.
You can swim any stroke you want and switch whenever you want.
I visited the FINA web pages to get information about the rules, but I don't really find the information I am looking for. It says that freestyle is to be used, but what I am wondering about is if you are allowed to switch stroke in the middle of the race. Crawl wears me out after a while during my training sessions so I tend to switch to backstroke for a short period of time which allows me to "rest" before I switch back. Is something like this allowed during an open water competion as well?
Generally it's anything goes, and that makes sense. It's a safety issue to restrict swimmers from using a resting stroke. Breaststroke is useful because it also lets you stay on heading.
That said, you shouldn't seed yourself in towards the front at the start if you plan to change off. It's a bit inconsiderate, and they may just swim right over you as well.
If it's somewhere scenic, don't forget to take in the view.
