The history of butterfly swimming
2 days ago
- #Butterfly Stroke
- #Olympic Sports
- #Swimming History
- Butterfly stroke emerged in the 1930s as a faster breaststroke variant with an overarm recovery.
- American Henry Myers first used butterfly arms in a full breaststroke race in 1933, followed by David Armbruster and Jack Sieg developing the dolphin kick in 1935.
- FINA established butterfly as a separate stroke in 1952, and it debuted at the Olympics in 1956 with men's 200m and women's 100m events.
- Only the 100m and 200m butterfly distances are contested at the Olympics, with 50m events held at other international levels.
- English swimmers like James Hickman set world records, and three English athletes have won Olympic butterfly medals, the last in 2004.