The butterfly stroke - how to end it properly

There are three techniques that can be used to avoid an ill-timed finish.

The conventional method is to sight the finish from above water on the last breathing stroke, then stay on target as you charge the wall on the final few strokes. You learn to gauge the distance, to develop a feel for coming in long or coming in even. If long, you shorten up the pulling pattern, creating three shorter strokes where there would otherwise be two. The short strokes are like those used in the 200 fly. There is less elbow extension on the upsweep, and the hands exit nearer the waist than the hips.

Another method is the one Biondi used in Seoul on the medley relay, where he again took 21 strokes in the final 50, but nailed the finish. He made the adjustment, not in his stroke count, but in his butterfly submarine. The "submarine" is the dolphin kick-out from the turn, with the arms held in streamlined position. What Biondi did was to extend the distance of his submarine by slowing the tempo of his submarine kicks. The first of his 21 strokes began farther down the pool, which put his finish stroke flush on the wall.

A third technique, which may well be the speediest, is to adjust the number of submarine kicks. Some fliers, like Biondi, use two kicks off the turn, while others, like Melvin Stewart, take four or five. Two kicks give roughly the same distance as a full butterfly stroke. So, if your tendency is to come in long, just add one kick to your submarine to make up the difference.

If fate has it that you do finish long, use the following rule of thumb: Avoid a partial arm stroke, kick all the way in, keep the head down, and follow the "wave."

The path of the hands should follow the natural wave-like path of the stroke. If you finish just a little long, the hands will drive toward the wall on the downward slope of the wave. If you come in longer, the hands will begin sweeping upward. Staying on the wave is a kind of follow-through motion that helps to preserve momentum into the wall.