June 16, 2026
Flap to the Future
The history of butterfly swimming
How a weird breaststroke hack became swimming’s most exhausting flex
TLDR: Butterfly began as a faster version of breaststroke before becoming its own Olympic event, and it’s now treated as swimming’s ultimate show-off stroke. In the comments, people battled over whether it’s a glorious skill test or just a ridiculously tiring, inefficient way to move through water.
What started in the 1930s as a sneaky breaststroke speed trick has turned into one of sport’s biggest bragging rights — and the comment section is absolutely having a moment over it. The article traces how swimmers began swinging their arms over the water, confusing everyone in 1933, before the now-famous dolphin kick arrived and butterfly finally became its own official event in 1952. By 1956, it had hit the Olympics, and yes, England has since collected a few butterfly medals of its own.
But the real splash is in the reactions. One commenter crowned butterfly the “three point shot” of swimming, basically saying if you can survive a full pool length, you’ve earned “real swimmer” status. Another went full humble-brag, calling it fascinating, wildly energy-hungry, and maybe kind of pointless — before casually dropping that they still hold their high school butterfly record 20 years later. Icon behavior.
Then came the chaos: why does this deliberately awkward-looking movement get Olympic medals, while something like hopping on one foot does not? That spicy take lit up the whole debate over whether butterfly is a beautiful test of skill or just an officially sanctioned way to suffer in public. Meanwhile, history buffs in the replies nitpicked old race distances and rules, grumbling that the article skipped key details like when the frog kick was legal. In other words, classic internet energy: part awe, part pedantry, part "why does this even exist?"
Key Points
- •The article says butterfly developed from breaststroke in the 1930s when swimmers began using above-water arm recovery to go faster.
- •Henry Myers is identified as the first swimmer to use butterfly arms for a full length of breaststroke in competition in 1933.
- •David Armbruster and Jack Sieg are credited with developing and demonstrating the dolphin kick in 1935.
- •FINA recognized butterfly as a separate stroke in 1952, after the technique had continued to appear in breaststroke races.
- •Butterfly debuted at the Olympic Games in 1956, and the article highlights James Hickman and three English Olympic medallists in the event.