Medley turns explained: turn legally from butterfly to backstroke, back to breaststroke, breaststroke to freestyle. With touch rules and mistakes to avoid.
Medley turns are the turns in individual medley swimming where the stroke changes at the wall. The honest answer to "Where do I win or lose in medley swimming?": at the wall. In the short-course 100, 200 and 400 m medley races at the 2019 European Championships, turn time explained the difference between fast and slow more than pure swimming speed, in a regression that explained 97 to 100 % of race time [3]. The fastest turns were those between butterfly and backstroke [3].
The order is prescribed: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and each stroke must cover a quarter of the distance [2]. The rules are strict, and so are the consequences: whoever moves wrongly at the wall touch is disqualified. The current World Aquatics rule card (valid from 13 March 2026) lists the infractions [1].
A correction right at the start: the inventory of this catalogue said a flip turn is used at the breaststroke → freestyle change. That is not possible, because in breaststroke the wall must be touched with both hands separated and simultaneously [1]. The end of the breaststroke is therefore always a two-hand touch.
Be realistic: you learn the rules in one evening. The smooth turns take weeks (experience, not a study value).
Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle. Each stroke gets a quarter. According to the 2017 interpretation, whoever leaves the wall on the back for the freestyle section has swum more than a quarter of backstroke and is disqualified [2]. That applies in this form from 2017. The current card instead lists under 9.3 the infraction of not returning to the breast before a kick or stroke in the freestyle section [1]. For competitions always ask for the current rule status. Milestone: you name the order in your sleep.
You touch with both hands separated and simultaneously [1]. Separated means: the hands must not lie on top of each other, a gap is not necessary [2]. Then you turn and push off on your back. After the push-off you must be on your back [1]. Milestone: 4 × 25 m, every touch with both hands and the push-off position on the back.
You swim to the wall on your back. The rule card lists as backstroke infractions: not starting the turn immediately after turning onto the breast, not initiating it at the completion of the arm pull, and not touching the wall [1]. The Swiss teaching material describes the above-water backstroke turn: touch on the back, turn into side position, draw the legs up, dive down [4]. When changing to breaststroke the body then stays on the breast, in breaststroke rhythm with an underwater pull [4]. Milestone: 4 × 25 m, the turning movement flows without a stop.
At the end of the breaststroke the two-hand touch applies [1][4]. Carry the turn through as in breaststroke: hands, draw legs up, push off. In the freestyle section you must be on the breast before a kick or stroke [1]. The teaching material recommends for the breaststroke turn: pull one hand back quickly and push off in side position [4]. Milestone: 4 × 25 m breaststroke → freestyle, without a stop and with the right touch.
After the start or turn, the head must break the surface at 15 m at the latest in freestyle, backstroke and butterfly [1]. In breaststroke there are separate underwater rules: only one downward butterfly kick before the first breaststroke kick [1]. Milestone: you know the rule per stroke.
Swim 100 m medley (25 m each) and concentrate on the turns. Milestone: you get through all three turns without a rule infraction.
Train the turn, not the distance. Swim 8 × 25 m in which you consciously shape only the last 5 m and the first 5 m after the turn, and time from the flag to the 5 m mark after the wall. In the study, turn time was the factor that separated the fast from the slow [3]. Breaststroke also had the lowest speed and the greatest development potential [3].
Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle. Each stroke covers a quarter of the distance [2].
In butterfly and breaststroke with both hands separated and simultaneously [1]. In backstroke the wall must be touched during the turn [1].
Because the end of the breaststroke requires a two-hand touch [1]. After the touch you can push off normally, but not turn like a freestyle flip.
Often at the turns: in short-course medley races, turn time explained the difference more strongly than pure speed [3]. Studies on medley races are rare, though [5].
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