Lately, I’ve found myself missing the years I used to practice swimming as a sport more and more. I miss how liberating it felt to have my body be carried by water, that floaty feeling that made me feel like I was flying, and the speed that I was able to achieve if I went on a full on explosive and fast front crawl, or even better, butterfly stroke. It was a good time, and it felt good to swim.
Out of the four different swim techniques I practiced, the butterfly stroke was my favourite. I remember how it was challenging to get the technique down at first — using my entire body to propel forward as opposed to mainly my arms and legs, like with front crawl or backstroke — but once mastered, it was great! For me, that type of stroke was the swimming style that made me feel like I was flying, and as it turns out, this swimming technique is the one with the fastest achievable speed out of all other techniques, and it is also Michael Phelps’ favourite. I take it as a sign that the butterfly stroke is absolute peak. No wonder I miss it.
