Frequently Asked Questions

The Chardon Sharks swim team practices a number of swimming strokes for competition. The most common are freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly.

Backstroke

Consists of an alternating motion of the arms with a flutter kick while on the back. On turns, swimmers may rotate onto their stomach and perform a flip turn with some part of the swimmer touching the wall.

Breaststroke

Requires simultaneous movements of the arms on the same horizontal plane. The hands are pressed out in front of the chest in a heart shaped pattern and recovered under or on the surface of the water. The kick is a simultaneous somewhat circular motion similar to the action of a frog. On turns and at the finish, the swimmers must touch the wall with TWO hands simultaneously at, above or below the surface of the water.

Butterfly

Features a simultaneous over the water recovery of the arms combine with a dolphin kick. The dolphin kick requires the swimmer to keep both legs together. No flutter or scissor kicks allowed.

DQ stands for disqualified. Trained officials observe the swimmer during each event to ensure compliance with these technical rules. If the swimmer commits an infraction of the rules, a disqualification will result. This means that the swimmer will not receive an official time. For beginner swimmers, a DQ should be treated as a learning experience so please be supportive of your child even if they are DQ’d.