Four different swimming strokes are used in major competitions: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. These are the recognized strokes that form the foundation of Olympic and other elite pool-racing events.
Individual medley races combine all four in a fixed order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Medley relays use the same four strokes but arrange them differently, beginning with backstroke, followed by breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle.
Freestyle causes the most common confusion. In freestyle races, swimmers may technically use any stroke, but nearly everyone uses the front crawl because it is generally the fastest. As a result, people often treat “freestyle” and “front crawl” as identical, even though one is a race category and the other is a specific technique.
Other swimming techniques, such as sidestroke or the elementary backstroke, may be taught recreationally or used in specialized settings. They are not among the four standard strokes used in major competitive medley events.