Butterfly

Fly is the hardest stroke in swimming. Some of the best butterflyers have been Michael Phelps, Caleab Dressel, Kristoff Milak, Sarah Sjostrom and Dana Vollmer. Any swimmer can atest to how hard fly is because it requires a lot of strength, rythym, endurance, and coordination in order to perform it decently.

Fly has a double-arm recovery and a dolphin kick that coincide together in a certain order and rythym. If the rythym is off it becomes very unefficient. If done correctly fly is actualyl supposed to be more efficient than freestyle, the easiest stroke, for short periods of time.

There are also certain rules that you have to do otherwise you will get disqualified in a race. Your arms have to enter the water at approximately the same time, your legs have to stay relatively close together when you kick, and for turns and finishes your hands have to touch the wall at the same time.

100 Fly Records

The world record for the 100 fly has changed a lot since 1957 until 2022. The first WR in 1957 was a 1:03.4 by Gyorgy Tumpek from Hungary. The most recent WR was a 49.45 set by Caleab Dressel from the US who had beat his own previous 49.50 WR from 2019. The US has set 22 out of the 41 total WRs.

200 Fly Records

The wrold record for the 200 fly has changed a lot since 1959 until now. The first WR was in 1959 of 2:19.0 by Mike Troy from the US. The most recent is a 1:50.73 set in 2019 by Hungarian Kristof Milak who beat Michael Phelps 8 previous WRs the fastest being a 1:51.51. The US has set 32 of the 47 world records.

Michael Phelps

He is one of the very few swimmers that non-swimmers think of when they think of swimming. He is the most respected and decorated olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. His first and arguably best event is the 200 fly in which he swam in the 2000 olmypics when he was 15! He then set the 200 fly record in 2001 at 15 and 9 months, becoming the youngest person to set a world record ever. After this he created 8 world records in the 200 fly.

Caleab Dressel

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Dressel won five gold medals, which made him the fifth American to win five gold medals in a single Olympic Games after 1970. He also became the first swimmer in the history of swimming at the modern Olympic Games, since 1896, to win gold medals in the 50 meter freestyle, the 100 meter freestyle, and the 100 meter butterfly at the same Olympics. Dressel holds American records in the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle, 50 meter and 100 meter butterfly. He also holds American records in the 50 yard and 100 yard freestyle events, the 100 yard butterfly, and the 200 yard individual medley, and formerly held a national record in the 100 yard breaststroke. Over the course of his collegiate career, he won NCAA titles in the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle, and 100 yard butterfly individual events.

Sarah Sjostrom

She is a Swedish competitive swimmer specialising in the sprint freestyle and butterfly events. She is the current world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle, the 50-meter butterfly, and the 100-meter butterfly. She is a former world record holder in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, and 200-meter freestyle. She is the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming.She won the Overall Swimming World Cup in 2017 and 2018 and she has won 10 individual World Championship gold medals. She currently represents Energy Standard in the International Swimming League. Sjöström is the only female swimmer to win five individual medals at a single FINA World Aquatics Championships and as of 2019 has won a total of 16 individual medals at long course World Championships, more than any other female swimmer in history. Only Michael Phelps has won more individual medals (28). In 2021, Sjöström achieved a career total of over 1000 most valuable player points in the International Swimming League and became the first swimmer in history to do so.

The International Swimming Hall of Fame credits Australian Sydney Cavill as the originator of the butterfly stroke. Cavill (1881–1945), the son of "swimming professor" Frederick Cavill, was 220 yards amateur champion of Australia at the age of 16. He followed his famous brothers to America and coached notable swimmers at San Francisco's Olympic Club.

There are four styles of butterfly stroke.Two main styles of butterfly stroke seen today are: "arm pull up simultaneous with dolphin kick" and "arm pull down simultaneous with dolphin kick".Two additional styles of butterfly stroke are similar to the two styles above, but without a "second" dolphin kick. This allows the swimmer to conserve energy and be more relaxed.