The Navy’s Obscure, Super-Efficient Swim Stroke

Video written by Corinne Neustadter

[mylex]

To be more precise: freestyle in a competitive swimming context basically means that swimmers can swim how they like. However, since front crawl is the fastest way to swim, it is usually preferred. I'm pretty sure it would be legal use the side stroke in freestyle races as well, it is just too slow.

[Rapidashisaunicorn]

Can’t wait for the error correction video where Sam has to admit that freestyle isn’t a stroke and is a competitive category in which swimmers actually just choose to do frontstroke because it’s the fastest

[jayd]

I was a U.S. Marine swim instructor and lifeguard. We taught it primarily as an endurance stroke to use different muscles than the breaststroke. It's a survival stroke more than a combat stroke which is important even if it's not popular in college swimming.

[Naxhus]

It's fairly common in Australia. It's one of the strokes they teach you at the more popular swimming programs. It is my favourite stroke for pretty much the reasons listed in the video, in addition to being very very easy to teach kids. "Pick the apple, put it in the basket" + "bring your feet to your bum, split, snap back together". If you're in an aquatic accident it'll keep you moving and keep you alive, in addition to letting you see where you're going.

[jacka]

I'm a lifeguard and can confirm I use sidestroke. It is very easy to rescue people with. You can tow a person with one arm and stroke with the other. You can use sidestroke with your head in the water too, its a bit quicker. You can also perform a 'contact tow' with somebody basically on your back/side and requires no rescue equipment to pull somebody along.

[Mark-vvdy]

As a kid, this was taught to me as the "safety stroke, " as in the one to use if you end up stranded by a sinking boat, since you can last the longest and get the farthest with it before drowning from exhaustion. Pretty gruesome to think about, but it certainly kept me from ever forgetting about it.

[JoelReid]

Side stroke is taught in Australia in standard swimming lessons. My 10 year old daughter learned it a few years ago. This is because a major part of swimming lessons in Australia is knowing how to survive.
It is not obscure in Australia at all.

[listenst]

As a lifeguard, this was the first and most basic swimming stroke we taught in swim lessons. It's really not obscure at all

[MrTylertherockstar]

Navy Diver here; the stroke itself is amazingly efficient. With fins, it’s a little faster, but definitely pretty slow. I’ve been able to swim a couple miles without being completely exhausted with this stroke, though.

[jimwoodman]

The sidestroke is so obscure, the Red Cross and YMCA have been teaching it to kids for decades! I used to teach Red Cross swim lessons, and sidestroke and breast stroke were taught at the same time, after students were proficient in crawl, elementary backstroke, and had started to learn to tread water. I really wouldn't describe it as obscure.

[K-o-R]

We were taught sidestroke in primary school. It was noted that you could potentially swim forever because it used so much less energy.

[_maxgray]

My childhood swim lessons covered front crawl, backstroke, and sidestroke as the first three strokes. Not sure why you think most people have never heard of it...

[MichaelSidneyTimpson]

I was always aware of sidestroke. Also there's a sixth stroke, reverse breast stroke, which is sometimes called tadpole, where you do breast stroke motions on your back.

[jollyfish]

I was taught this at swimming lessons in my childhood. In Australia after learning how to actually swim, a lot of it was focussed on survival swimming so we had to do things like tread water fully clothed for 20 minutes, or swim a long distance using survival strokes - side stroke being one of them.

[wowlsj]

Learned the sidestroke as a boy scout, and have always kept it in my swimming toolbox, once resorted to it during a particularly grueling triathlon swim for a bit of rest. Always works great.

[adventure_hannah]

Certified Open Water undrownifier and competitive triathlete here! I LOVE the sidestroke as a guard because it's fast and I can keep my eyes on my target, which is super important in murky or choppy waters. In triathlon, pretty much everyone swims front crawl, but the sidestroke is my favorite recovery stroke for when I need to catch a few really deep breaths while a whole fricken half-mile from shore. I can also spot buoys way easier from sidestroke, so that's nice.

[gnarwhalnoah]

dont remember when i learned sidestroke but i definitely learned it as a kid. We even had a fun way of remembering the storke, which was "pick the apple" (where the front arm extends, picking the apple, then pulls it back down to pass it to the other hand, which then extends downwards to drop it in the basket). thought everyone knew about it, guess not!

[BlazeCombustion]

sidestroke was literally the first thing taught in all of the swimming classes I've ever had, and it's even taught as the preferred method in the Boy Scouts in the US

[connecticutaggie]

I do like sidestroke but the most effortless swimming for me is backstroke. The big challenge with backstroke is that you can't see where you are going but if you have a really long distance to swim, it is unobstructed, and the destination/route is flexible, backstroke is a really low effort option.

[BillyBob-bdhj]

Side stroke was the primary stroke I learned as a kid. latter in life I learned combat side stroke. The side stroke really shines when you introduce fins. The side position keeps both fins in the water and your legs do most of the work.