jh Wrote:

flyingswoosh Wrote:no, you can't take an extra stroke with one arm while extending the other. If i'm understanding you correctly that is.

You are, and that's what I figured. I just wasn't sure how "free" the freestyle was.

You are wrong. Freestyle is just that. Free. The only time you have to limit what you do swimming free is when you are doing a medley or individual relay. In those instances when you are swimming the free leg you are not allowed to swim back, breast or fly. Other than that you may swim any way you want as long as part of your body breaks the surface of the water during your stroke.

As far as the other strokes, and it is mostly fly and breast, you cannot start a stroke without doing it properly. Had Cavic started another fly stroke he would not have been able to bring his arms out of the water and thereby would have committed an underwater recovery (IMO).