Madam Butterfly

Mary T. Meagher (born in October 27th, 1964) is an American swimming legend and one of the greatest butterfly swimmers ever. In 1979 she broke her first world record in the 200m butterfly and was ready to race for her first Olympic medals at the 1980 Games in Moscow. However, Meagher, along with the rest of the United States Olympic Team, never gor her chance due to the American led boycott of the Games.

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The Russian Rocket

Aleksandr (Alexander) Popov, known by a variety of nicknames - "Sasha", "The Russian rocket","Ice Man", and "Big Dog"- is a Russian former Olympic gold medalist swimmer and he is regarded as one of the greatest sprint freestyle swimmers of all time. Popov took up swimming at the age of eight at the Children and Youth Sports School, and at that time, he was afraid of water, but his father insisted on him taking swimming lessons. Popoc started out as a backstroke swimmer and switched to freestyle only in 1990 when he joined Gennadi Touretski's squad. He later moved from Russia to Australia to be with his coach.

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Four easy steps to freestyle [video]

Today's post is about freestyle and how to learn it for the beginners or improve it for intermediate swimmers. It’s something I wanted to post for a long time now but since the swimming facility in my home town was closed for eight months it was impossible. In the following video I present 3 freestyle drills that will help you learn how to breathe properly and how to move your body during this stroke. Before you start practicing these drills you should be able to balance in the water and can put your face in the water.