Medley Order Relay
Small teams swim a relay in medley order, scored on correct order, legal-style touches and technique rather than who finishes first.
- Stages
- Swimming – Stage 10
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Front Crawl, Backstroke, Coordination, Breaststroke, Butterfly, Turns
- Equipment
- None
- Age
- 9–99 years
- Group size
- 4–20 swimmers
- Time
- About 8 minutes
- In a lesson
- Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Backstroke swimmers start in the water; no diving starts in relays unless depth and pool rules allow and it has been taught.
What it develops
- Link strokes in individual medley order
How to run it
- Teams of four each choose who swims butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and front crawl (or swimmers swim two widths each in order).
- Each swimmer swims one width or length; the next swimmer starts only when touched.
- Points: 1 for correct order, 1 for each correct finish touch, 1 for a technique focus chosen by the teacher.
- Teams discuss how to gain more points, then repeat.
Teaching cues
- Wait for the touch.
- Correct finish for your stroke.
- Technique scores more than speed.
Make it easier
- Allow any stroke except the order rule; use widths.
Make it harder
- Each swimmer swims a short individual medley themselves.
Common faults
- Starting before the touch.
- Rushing so technique falls apart.
Corrections
- 'Hands on the wall until you're touched.'
- 'Points come from quality.'
Assistant / L1 role
- Judge changeovers for one team, checking the touch happens before the next swimmer leaves, and report the score to the teacher.