Swim Front Crawl for 1 length of the pool performing a somersault every 5 strokes.
Before long, the breaststroke was joined by other strokes, including the sidestroke and what was then called the front crawl.
While the freestyle swimming technique actually refers to any unregulated swim stroke during the course of competition, many people use this term as a substitute for the front crawl since it's the most widely used freestyle stroke.
Unless you're well-versed in the world of competitive swimming, you may think that freestyle equals the front crawl.
Because the front crawl is often considered the fastest, most swimmers opt for it during the freestyle leg of a race, but swimmers can also choose to dog paddle or side stroke.
