If your child has just started swim school, you have probably heard words like freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke being used by their teacher. If you’re trying to understand where these strokes sit in your child’s learning journey, and when they can expect to be swimming all four, this guide is for you.
There are four main competitive swimming strokes, each with distinct technique requirements and practical applications. Learning them follows a progression that builds on earlier skills, and understanding that progression helps parents make sense of what their child is working toward at each stage. At Aquabliss, the program structure has been professionally developed over more than 20 years to guide children through this progression in a way that is safe, age-appropriate, and genuinely effective.
Find the Right Program for Your Child Aquabliss offers ability-based programs from babies through to competitive squads across 6 NSW locations. Book now or get a free assessment. |
The Four Main Swimming Strokes
1. Freestyle (Front Crawl)
Freestyle is the fastest competitive stroke and almost universally the first stroke children learn to swim with efficiency. Technically, the term freestyle means the swimmer may choose any stroke in a freestyle race, and most choose front crawl because it is the fastest. In practice, freestyle and front crawl are used interchangeably.
Freestyle involves a prone (face-down) body position, an alternating overarm action, a continuous flutter kick from the hips, and rotational breathing turning the face to one side. For young swimmers, the key milestones are developing a relaxed body position, a straight-arm recovery on the entry, and comfortable bilateral breathing. Getting the breathing technique right is one of the most significant technical hurdles for early-stage swimmers.
2. Backstroke
Backstroke is the only competitive stroke swum on the back. The body position is supine (face-up), with an alternating overarm action similar in some ways to freestyle but performed in reverse, and a continuous flutter kick similar to freestyle. Because the face is out of the water, backstroke is typically the first stroke where breathing is not a separate technical skill to be learned.
Backstroke tends to feel more comfortable for many early swimmers because there is no need to coordinate breathing with a rotational movement. For this reason, it often develops in parallel with freestyle in the early stages of a child’s swim education.
| 💡 Why freestyle and backstroke come first: Freestyle and backstroke use a flutter kick from the hips, a technically simpler movement than the breaststroke kick or the dolphin kick used in butterfly. Starting with these two strokes builds a strong kick foundation and body position before children move to the more technically demanding patterns of breaststroke and butterfly. |
3. Breaststroke
Breaststroke is the oldest competitive stroke and technically the most complex for children to learn correctly. Unlike freestyle and backstroke, breaststroke uses a synchronised arm pull and a frog-style kick performed simultaneously, with a specific timing pattern between the two. Getting that timing right takes considerable practice.
The breaststroke kick (the frog kick or whip kick) is particularly difficult for young children to execute correctly. Common errors include kicking in a bicycle pattern rather than a true breaststroke kick, and poor timing between the arm pull and the kick. Because of this complexity, breaststroke is typically taught after freestyle and backstroke are well established.
4. Butterfly
Butterfly is the most physically demanding of the four competitive strokes and the last to be introduced. It requires a simultaneous, symmetrical double-arm pull combined with the dolphin kick: a powerful undulating movement of the body from the hips through the legs. The body must move in a wave-like pattern while the arms pull and recover simultaneously over the water.
Butterfly demands significant upper body strength, core stability, and coordination. These physical capabilities develop as children grow, which is one reason butterfly is not typically introduced until children are already competent in the other three strokes. When it is done well, butterfly is a visually striking and rhythmically satisfying stroke. When it is done poorly, it is exhausting and inefficient.
When Do Children Typically Learn Each Stroke?
The short answer is: the first two strokes come early, and the last two follow. The longer answer involves understanding the program progression at Aquabliss and how each stage introduces and develops specific stroke skills.
| Program Stage | Strokes Introduced | Key Focus |
| Pre-Schoolers (3 levels) | Freestyle (introduction) and Backstroke (introduction) | Water confidence, floating, body position, basic arm and kick actions |
| Kids: Learn to Swim (3 levels) | Freestyle and Backstroke (correction and development) | Straight arm freestyle with breathing; backstroke correction; independent swimming |
| Kids: Stroke Development (4 levels) | All four strokes developed and refined | Technique quality across freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly; turns |
| Development Squads | All four strokes at performance level | Technique perfection, starts, turns, fitness and competitive or fitness pathway |
You can read about each program in detail on the Aquabliss programs overview page.
A Closer Look at the Aquabliss Program Progression
Pre-Schoolers: The Foundation Stage
The Pre-Schoolers program at Aquabliss is a three-level ability-based curriculum for young children. The focus is on water confidence, comfortable floating, and the early introduction of freestyle and backstroke arm and kick actions. These lessons are about building a child who is calm, comfortable, and safe in the water, with the basic movement patterns that will carry through into formal stroke development. Breath control and submersion are also developed at this stage.
Kids: Learn to Swim
The Kids Learn to Swim program is where freestyle and backstroke become genuinely purposeful swimming strokes. The three-level program progresses children toward straight arm freestyle with integrated breathing, and backstroke with improved body position and technique. By the end of this program, a child is swimming independently with two strokes, which is the foundation from which breaststroke and butterfly will be built.
Kids: Stroke Development
The Kids Stroke Development program is the stage where all four strokes come together. This four-level program has a stronger focus on technique refinement and progressively introduces breaststroke and butterfly in addition to continuing to develop freestyle and backstroke. Children exit this program proficient in all four strokes, with the technique quality and stamina to move into squads if they choose that pathway.
Development Squads
Children who are ready and interested in taking their swimming further can progress to Development Squads. This pathway offers either a fitness-focused or competitive option, with technique perfection, starts and turns, and structured training programmes.
Why Technique Matters So Much
Aquabliss’s philosophy, developed across more than 20 years of teaching, is that it is not enough to teach children to swim. The goal is to teach them to swim well. A child with sound technique uses less energy to cover the same distance. A child who uses less energy tires less quickly. A child who does not tire quickly does not panic. A calmer, more efficient swimmer is a safer swimmer.
This matters practically. A child who can swim 25 metres with good technique is meaningfully safer than one who can thrash 25 metres with poor technique and nothing left in reserve. Technique quality is not an optional extra for competitive ambitions. It is a water safety factor.
| 💡 Every child is different: Children progress at different rates through the stroke development stages and that is completely normal. Aquabliss programs are ability-based, not age-based. A child moves to the next level when they have genuinely mastered the skills for their current level. That approach produces better swimmers and more confident ones. |
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Not Sure Which Program Suits Your Child? Book a free assessment at your nearest Aquabliss location. Our team will place your child in the right ability level straight away. |
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no single age because Aquabliss programs are ability-based rather than age-based. Many children who start lessons at a young age will progress through the Stroke Development program and achieve proficiency across all four strokes during their primary school years. The pace depends on how frequently lessons are attended, the child’s natural aptitude, and the quality of teaching. Consistent weekly attendance makes a significant difference to the speed of progression. Book a free assessment to find the right starting point for your child.
Teaching butterfly before freestyle and backstroke are well established is not recommended. Butterfly requires physical strength, core stability, and coordination that are built through the earlier stroke development stages. At Aquabliss, butterfly is introduced in the Stroke Development program once a solid foundation in freestyle and backstroke has been established.
Breaststroke is safe to learn at the appropriate stage, and it is an important stroke to have, particularly for recreational swimming and open-water situations. The key is that it is taught at the right developmental point, with the correct technique from the start. Poor breaststroke technique established early can be difficult to correct later.