Backstroke

Backstroke is one of the easiest strokes in swimming. You are on your back rotating your arms while kicking. Some of the best backstrokers are Ryan Murphy, Aaron Peirsol and Regan Smith. Backstoke is the stroke that almost everyone loves. It allows swimmers to breathe and take a break while they are swimming at practice. It is the second stroke in the induvidual medley and the one that swimmers use to recover from fly.

There are certain rules for backstroke that you must comply to oterwise you will get disqualified. For the turn you can not glide into the wall and you can not pull on the laneline to go faster. For the start, your toes must be under the water or on the water's surface.

100 Back Records

Ryan Murphy currently hold the world record for the 100m backstroke with a time of 51.85 from 2016. The US has had 26 out of the 40 total records.

200 Back Records

Aaron Peirsol from the US currently holds the men's WR with a time of 1:51.92 from 2009. The US holds 26 out of 42 total records.

Regan Smith

She is the current long course world record holder in the women's 200-meter backstroke and a former world record holder in the 100-meter backstroke. Smith competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in three events representing the United States, winning a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke, a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly, and a silver medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay.

Aaron Peirsol

He is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist (five gold, two silver). As a member of the U.S. national team, he holds the world record in the men's 4×100-meter medley relay. Individually, he currently holds the world record in the 200-meter backstroke event. In February 2011, Peirsol announced his retirement, saying, "I ended up doing everything I set out to do." Peirsol's successes have earned him the American Swimmer of the Year Award once. He has won a total of thirty-six medals in major international competition: twenty-nine gold, six silver, and one bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, Pan American, and the Pan Pacific Championships. In his Olympic debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at the age of 17, Peirsol won a silver medal in the 200-meter backstroke. Four years later, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Peirsol won gold in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke (sweeping the backstroke events) and the 4×100-meter medley relay. In his third Olympics (2008 Summer Olympics), Peirsol won gold in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4×100-meter medley relay.

Missy Franklin

She is an American former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She formerly held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke. As a member of the U.S. national swim team, she also held the world records in the 4×100-meter medley relay.In her Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics at age 17, Franklin won a total of five medals, four of which were gold. She swept the women's backstroke events, winning gold in both the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke. Franklin's successes have earned her Swimming World's World Swimmer of the Year and the American Swimmer of the Year award in 2012 as well as the FINA Swimmer of the Year Award in 2011 and 2012. In total, she has won twenty-eight medals in international competition: seventeen gold, six silver, and five bronze, spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, the short course World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships. Franklin's eleven gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships was a record in women's swimming before Katie Ledecky broke it in 2017. Franklin holds dual American and Canadian citizenship, and chose to compete for the U.S. national swim team. In December 2018, she announced her retirement from the sport.