At the Olympic Games

At the Olympic Games, swimming events are held in a pool measuring 50 metres in length. The four strokes of Olympic swimming events—for both individual and relay races—are breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke and front crawl; the front crawl is predominantly used in freestyle races, and as such the term freestyle is often used as a synonym for front crawl. A fifth race, the mixed medley, involves all four strokes, with swimmers switching between them. The distances also vary, with different skills needed for a 50m race to a 1500m event. Explosivity, endurance, strength and technique are all essential qualities for swimmers.