Medley Mix
Swimmers swim the four strokes in medley order with the right turn between each – changing strokes cleanly and in control.
- Stages
- Stage 6, Stage 7
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Skills
- Front Crawl, Backstroke, Coordination, Breaststroke, Butterfly, Turns
- Equipment
- None
- Age
- 8–99 years
- Group size
- 1–14 swimmers
- Time
- About 6 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2, Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Butterfly is tiring – allow single-arm fly if needed.
What it develops
- Turns with streamlined push-offs and underwater phase
- Improve stroke efficiency on all strokes
- Turns suited to each stroke
- Keep technique and stroke count as distance increases
How to run it
- Teach medley order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, front crawl.
- Swim one width of each with the correct turn or finish between.
- Focus on a clean change, not speed.
- Swap the order for a 'mix' round.
Teaching cues
- Fly, back, breast, free.
- Clean turns.
- Good strokes, not fast ones.
Make it easier
- Kick-only medley.
- Shorter distances.
Make it harder
- Continuous medley with no rest.
- Stroke count each leg.
Common faults
- Forgetting the order.
- Sloppy turns between strokes.
Corrections
- Chant the order.
- Practise transitions at the wall.
Assistant / L1 role
- Stand at the turning wall and check the right turn for each change of stroke.