Conditioning · Swimming

Individual Medley

The individual medley is a continuous swim with equal distances of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, in that order. It trains full-body endurance and coordination across all four strokes.

Advanced
Moderate injury risk
Rest 1 min 30 sec

How to do it

Swim butterfly for the first quarter of your distance, starting in the water at the wall.
Turn onto your back from a simultaneous, separated two-hand wall touch.
Swim backstroke for the second quarter.
Turn onto your front from a wall touch made while still on your back.
Swim breaststroke for the third quarter.
Push off face down from a simultaneous, separated two-hand wall touch.
Swim front crawl for the final quarter.
Touch the wall with one hand to finish.

Form cues

Butterfly: let your hips drive the kick.
Backstroke: keep your head still.
Breaststroke: pull, breathe, kick, glide.
Front crawl: turn sideways to breathe.

Common mistakes

Uneven stroke distancesCount your lengths so each stroke covers exactly one quarter of the total distance.
Sprinting the butterfly legBegin at a sustainable pace that leaves you enough energy for the remaining three strokes.
Losing track of the backstroke wallUse the overhead flags and a practiced stroke count to judge your approach.
Holding your breath between breathsExhale steadily while your face is underwater rather than delaying your exhale until you lift or turn to breathe.

Safety

Fatigue during an unfamiliar stroke or transition can leave you unable to reach the wall, creating a drowning risk. Forcing tired strokes can also strain your shoulders or knees.

Use a lifeguarded pool lane with enough space for butterfly arm recovery.
Become comfortable swimming each stroke separately before combining them continuously.
Practice transition turns slowly at the wall before attempting them at speed.
End the swim at the nearest safe wall if your stroke breaks down, pain develops, or breathing becomes difficult.

Get advice from a physiotherapist or doctor before vigorous medley swimming if you have ongoing shoulder or knee pain, or a heart or breathing condition.

Muscles worked

Front

Back

Primary muscles

Core
Lats

Secondary muscles

Adductors
Chest
Front Delts
Glutes
Rear Delts
Rotator Cuff
Serratus Anterior
Triceps

Equipment

Backstroke Flags (optional)
Pool Lane Line (optional)

Sets and reps

Sets: 2–4
Target: 100–200 meters
Rest: 1 min 30 sec

Start with the shortest distance your pool allows you to divide into four equal stroke segments.