The individual medley has four strokes and three walls where one stroke stops and a different one starts. You can swim a good butterfly, a good backstroke and a good breaststroke and still hand back half a second at each of those walls, because there you are not turning, you are changing jobs. A transition turn stacks two problems: the approach has to satisfy the finish of the stroke you are ending, and the push-off belongs to the stroke you are starting. Swimmers who treat it as one movement get one half right and improvise the other.
I swam the 200 individual medley for Brazil at two Olympic Games, so these three walls were the part of my racing I rehearsed most. They reward preparation more than fitness.
What do the rules actually require at each IM wall?
A legal finish of the section you are leaving, then whatever the next stroke demands, plus one requirement the medley adds on its own.
World Aquatics publishes a quick reference infraction sheet for officials, in force as from 13 March 2026. The hinge for the medley is its rule 9.4 line, "Finish of section not in accordance with rule of the stroke concerned", the formal way of saying each quarter of the race ends under its own stroke's rule. Under those rules the card lists, for butterfly at 8.5 and breaststroke at 7.7, the same infraction: "Did not touch at the turn or finish with both hands; separated; simultaneously". For backstroke it lists 6.5, "Did not finish the race while on the back".
The medley adds one line of its own, rule 9.3: "In the freestyle section, did not return to the breast before any kick or stroke". That sentence decides how your last transition is allowed to look, and it is the one most swimmers have never read.
How do you turn from butterfly to backstroke?
Touch with both hands at the same time, then let one hand leave early and drive your hips under you so you come off the wall on your back.
Arrive on a full stroke. The butterfly section finishes here, so both hands have to land together and separated, and the quickest way to lose that is to glide the last metre with your head coming up, which lets one hand arrive first. Judge the wall from your flags and tempo, then commit from three strokes out.
The instant the touch is made, one hand releases and travels back over your head while the other stays a moment longer to lift your chest and pull your knees in. That second hand is doing work, not resting. Your feet plant and you push off on your back, because the card's backstroke rule 6.2 covers "Left position on the back except when executing a turn". Then it is dolphin kicks in streamline and your head out before the 15m mark, listed at 6.3. The touch itself is drilled in the open turn for breaststroke and butterfly.
How do you turn from backstroke to breaststroke?
You have to touch the wall while still on your back, which is exactly why your backstroke flip turn is no use at this wall.
In a 200 IM the backstroke leg is a single length, so this wall ends the section rather than turning inside it. That section finishes under the backstroke rule, listed at 6.5 as "Did not finish the race while on the back". So you arrive on your back and you touch on your back, with no rolling over first. In a 400 IM you also turn inside that leg, which is the backstroke flip turn and a different movement entirely.
Once the touch is legal you may turn however you like. The open or bucket turn keeps it simple: the hand touches, the knees come hard to the chest, the hips drop under you, and you rotate onto your breast as you push. The crossover turn holds more of that rotation by throwing the free arm across the body. Pick the one you can repeat tired.
The pullout that follows is where this transition is won or lost. The card's rule 7.1 line sets the limit as "More than one downward butterfly kick prior to first breaststroke kick after the start or turn", so one dolphin kick belongs in it. The full sequence is in the breaststroke pullout.
How do you turn from breaststroke to freestyle?
Both hands touch again, and then medley rule 9.3 decides your push-off: you must be back on your breast before you kick or take a stroke.
The breaststroke section finishes under 7.7, the same simultaneous two hand touch as butterfly, so the same approach discipline applies. No stretching into the wall, no sneaking a half stroke.
The push-off is where swimmers invent problems. Your body wants to unwind onto its side or its back, the way it would in a flip turn, and nothing stops you rotating through those positions during the glide. What the rule does not allow is a kick or a stroke before you are back on the breast. So let the rotation happen, finish it, and only then kick. The glide is a little more patient than on your freestyle push-offs, and that costs nothing because there is no pullout here. Holding a real streamline through the rotation is what keeps it fast, which is its own piece of work in streamline and push-off from the wall.
How does SwimRead read this part of your swimming?
It does not read turns yet, and the home page says so plainly instead of letting you find out after you have filmed.
SwimRead's home page states that "The current beta analyzes freestyle filmed from the side of the pool" and that "Backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, underwater footage, starts, and turns are not supported analysis modes in this beta". The clip it asks for is specified: "Aim for 10 seconds of continuous freestyle", filmed "in landscape from the side, with the whole body visible, a stable camera, standard lens, and normal playback speed", and "You do not need a full pool length". What comes back is a measurement report rather than a verdict, since "On-device pose detection estimates up to 33 body landmarks in sampled video frames", and on whether it scores your technique the page answers "No. The current beta shows measurement availability, swimmer history, and a chosen training focus".
So the part of your medley the beta can read is the freestyle leg you finish on. Film the three transition walls from the side yourself and watch them frame by frame, looking for the moment your hands separate and your feet leave the wall.
What should you drill this week?
- Two hands, every time. Six butterfly touches and six breaststroke touches, with someone calling any that are not simultaneous.
- Fly to back, from three strokes out. Three butterfly strokes at race effort into the touch, then out on your back in streamline. No gliding in to set it up.
- Back to breast on your back. Ten repeats touching on your back and turning straight into the pullout. If you roll before the touch, it does not count.
- Breast to free rotation. Push off, rotate onto your breast, then take the first kick.
- Film the three walls. One recording of each transition from the side, timing from hand touch to feet leaving.
My free swim pace calculator turns a time into pace, and how these legs fit together across the race sits in how to pace a 200 IM.
SwimRead is free while in beta, and invitations go out as beta spots open. If you want a reading of your freestyle while you go rebuild these three walls, join the beta and leave your email.