Freestyle is important, but so is backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. Here's how to improve your IM skills and became a stronger all-around swimmer.

It became known as freestyle because it’s the obvious choice for swimming events that are designated as “freestyle” events—where you are allowed to swim any stroke you like.

The freestyle stroke is the fastest, most efficient of the competitive swimming strokes, so no surprise it’s often the preferred stroke of experienced swimmers and triathletes.