Medley swimming is a combination of four different swimming strokes (freestyle (front crawl), backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay.
Individual medley consists of a single swimmer swimming equal distances of the four strokes within one race.
Individual medley consists of four strokes. These four strokes go in an order by Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and finally Freestyle. The swimmer will swim one quarter of the race in each style, in a certain order. The strokes are swam in this order:[1]
(4th can be any stroke except butterfly, backstroke, or breaststroke;[2] All swimmers use the front crawl).
A number of competitions in the individual medley are regularly contested, by both men and women. The competitions are limited in that every distance must consist of either four lengths of the pool (100-yard or -meter) or a multiple of four lengths (200- or 400-yard/- meter), so that no stroke must change mid-length. Regardless of the length of the individual medley, each stroke comprises a quarter of the overall distance.
The technique for individual medley events does not differ much from the technique for the separate events for the four strokes. The main difference is the turning technique needed when transitioning from one stroke to the next stroke. Each section has to be completed as described by the stroke rules of this section.
The transitions are as follows:
When transitioning from Butterfly to Backstroke, swimmers must abide by FINA rules and regulations in regards to turns. They are listed as follows:
For all the transitions, the swimmer may conduct their underwater phase for up to 15m, where then swimmers will have to resurface and continue swimming with proper technique.
Medley relay consists of four different swimmers in one relay race, each swimming one of the four strokes.
Medley relay is swum by four different swimmers, each swimming one of the four strokes. The stroke order for medley relay is different from that of the individual medley. Backstroke is the first event as this stroke is started from the water. If backstroke were not the first event, the starting backstroke swimmer and the finishing previous swimmer could block each other. The remaining strokes are sorted according to the speed, with breaststroke being the slowest, butterfly in the middle, and freestyle being the fastest stroke. The order of the strokes is as follows:[5]
Backstroke performances (only) are eligible for backstroke records, as they are performed under normal controlled starting conditions (i.e., reflex latency for the starting gun makes the average split time marginally quicker); for example, Ryan Murphy set the world record for the 100 m backstroke during the first leg of the medley relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
There are a number of competitions swum regularly in medley relay, both by men and women.
Mixed-gendered medley relays were introduced at the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) (4×50 m) and 2015 World Aquatics Championships . The event debuted at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics .
Standard United States high school swim meets have short course events, that is the lengths are typically swum in a 25-yard or meter long pool. One relay event swum in State or Sectional Championships is the 4×50 yard medley relay.
Many collegiate programs hold competition in the 4×50 medley relay, and 4×100 medley relay.
The technique for medley relay events does not differ much from the technique for the separate events for the four strokes and the basic set of relay rules. The only difference between the Medley Relay and the Individual Medley is the order of the strokes and the number of swimmers. The order for the medley relay is: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle.
The main difference is for the second, third, and fourth swimmers on the relay team. The first swimmer swims backstroke normally, but all of the following swimmers must accurately judge the swimmer current swimming's distance, and conduct a relay dive right as the current swimmer touches the wall. There is no start signal for those swimmers. It is very important for the next swimmer off the block to accurately judge the time at which the swimmer in the water will touch the wall. A fast reaction could result in a significantly faster time in the race, but a false start (diving early) will result in a disqualification.
World Aquatics rules require that a foot of the second, third or fourth swimmer must be touching the platform while (and before) the incoming teammate is touching the wall;[7] the starting swimmer may already be in motion, however, which saves 0.6 – 1 second compared to a regular start. Furthermore, many swimmers may perform better in a relay than in an individual race owing to a team spirit atmosphere. As a result, relay times are typically 2–3 second faster than the sum of best times of individual swimmers.
Until 1952, the butterfly was not defined as a separate stroke from the breaststroke, and so medley races featured three styles: backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. The usual distance of both the IM and the medley relay was thus 300 metres or yards rather than 400. During a 150-meter Individual Medley race, Henry Myers was one of the first to use an overarm recovery while swimming breaststroke, becoming one of the earliest forms of butterfly.[8] In the United States, during the year of 1953, some medley races included the butterfly stroke, and the Amateur Athletic Union made it mandatory in 1954.[9] [10]
From the beginning of the medley events, swimming times have drastically decreased due to science, technology, and improved training; e.g. technical swimming suits that reduce drag in the water and underwater cameras that help to analyze a swimmer's stroke.
These are the official rules of World Aquatics, USA Swimming, and US Masters Swimming regarding medley swimming:
Freestyle includes a special regulation for medley events:
Additionally, the normal rules of relay events apply:
Failure to abide by any of the rules listed above will result in a disqualification if found appropriate by the referee.
In 1960, the U.S. Paralympics added swimming as a sport. Para-Swimming is where swimmers with physical disabilities can compete with other swimmers with physical disabilities in swimming. While swimming, those swimmers are not allowed to wear any prosthetics or any assistive devices.[13]
While swimming the Individual Medley, para-swimmers are put into different categories depending on their physical disability. They are listed below:
There are also visual ratings:
And finally, there is an intellectual category:
All the listed below world record times have been swam in Long Course Meters (LCM.)
Men[28]
| World records | 200 m individual medley |  Ryan Lochte (USA) | 1:54.00 | Shanghai, China | July 28, 2011 |
| 400 m individual medley |  Léon Marchand (FRA) | 4:02.50 | Fukuoka, Japan | July 23, 2023 | |
| 4×100 m medley relay | United States
| 3:26.78 | Tokyo, Japan | July 31, 2021 | |
| World records | 200 m individual medley |  Katinka Hosszú (HUN) | 2:06.12 | Kazan, Russia | August 3, 2015 |
| 400 m individual medley |  Summer McIntosh (CAN) | 4:25.87 | Toronto, Canada | April 1, 2023 | |
| 4×100 m medley relay | United States
| 3:50.40 | Gwangju, South Korea | July 28, 2019 | |
| World records | 4×100 m mixed medley relay | United States
| 3:37.43 | Paris, France | August 3, 2024 |