IM Turns: The Complete Guide

Similarities to Open Turns 

During an individual medley, you swim four equal distances of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Although in an IM turn (or IM transition), you’re changing strokes, the same points of emphasis for all open turns apply here:

• Keeping your speed up allows you to transition into a fast turn.
• Driving your knees to your chest allows you to do a low, fast turn with as little energy as possible.
• Doing a strong push-off allows you to travel farther off each wall and create more speed while doing so.
• A tight, straight streamlined position prevents you from losing all the speed you generated in the push-off.
• A smooth transition to the surface that includes a level breakout allows you to start swimming with as much speed as possible. 

How to Do the Butterfly-to-Backstroke Transition 

The butterfly-to-backstroke transition is an open turn like a butterfly turn. Your approach to the wall, the basics of the flip itself, the emphasis on a streamlined position off the wall, and the principles of a great transition are the same. 

The key difference is that you push off on your back to switch to backstroke rather than rotating to your front to swim butterfly. In that respect, this turn is simpler because it lacks the rotation to your front. 

Approach the wall swimming butterfly as if you were doing a butterfly turn. Maintain as much speed as possible, and time the finish of the length so that you end on a full stroke without having to glide or take half a stroke.  

When doing your turn, drive your knees to your chest, and roll back to quickly and easily get your feet on the wall. When doing this roll, ensure that you roll straight back without any twist. This allows you to place your feet straight up and down on the wall, which will allow you to push off straight on your back. 

Once your feet are on the wall, the turn is the same as every other open turn. Do a strong push-off while getting into a great streamlined position. This allows you to create as much speed as possible and then maintain as much speed as possible off the wall. Then it’s simply a matter of transitioning to the surface as smoothly as possible. 

How to Do the Backstroke-to-Breaststroke Transition 

The backstroke-to-breaststroke transition differs significantly from both backstroke flip turns and breaststroke open turns. Although the actual movements are different, however, the principles are the same:  

• Approach the wall with speed
• Flip as fast as possible 
• Do a strong push-off in a great streamlined position
• Smoothly transition to the surface 

The key difference with this turn is what’s happening as you try to place your feet on the wall. There are multiple ways to do the turn itself.  

There are two simple rules you must follow. You must touch the wall with one hand while remaining on your back, and you must push off the wall on your front. Follow these rules, and you can use one of several turning styles. These styles vary in complexity and how fast they are. The more difficult variations can be faster if you do them properly. 

• The simplest backstroke-to-breaststroke turn is to approach the wall, roll to your side, reach with your last arm stroke, and touch the wall. You then rotate to your front to do a typical open turn where you push off on your stomach. Another version of this turn is to touch the wall in the same manner, tuck into a ball, and rotate your body laterally at the surface, as in the older backstroke turns.
• As an alternative, you can touch the wall with your hand while remaining on your back and then do a backflip to get your feet on the wall.
• The most advanced turn option is known as the crossover turn, during which you rotate to your side, touch the wall with your top arm, and then do a sideways flip turn. 

The backstroke-to-breaststroke transition is one of the most challenging turns to do, especially considering the different options. For more information on how to do a backstroke-to-breaststroke transition, please see this article. 

How to Do the Breaststroke-to-Freestyle Transition 

The breaststroke-to-freestyle transition is the IM turn most like a regular open turn. You approach the wall swimming breaststroke, do an open turn just as you would if you were going to continue to swim breaststroke, only you swim freestyle after your push-off.  

To do a great breaststroke-to-freestyle transition, approach the wall with speed, aiming to end on full stroke. Do a tight, fast turn by driving your knees up to your chest. Do a strong push-off to create as much speed as possible. Get into a great streamlined position to maintain that speed as much as possible. 

One potential difference between a breaststroke open turn and breaststroke-to-freestyle transition is the depth of your push-off. In breaststroke, you’ll typically push off a little deeper than you would during a flip turn in preparation for a great pull-out. In freestyle, this isn’t as necessary because you’re going to get to the surface sooner. The one exception here is if you’re planning on doing multiple underwater dolphin kicks. If that’s the case, you may want to push off deeper to ensure you can do those kicks effectively. 

The Importance of Good Transitions During Your IM Turns 

Swimming an individual medley isn’t as simple as swimming the four strokes in order. It’s swimming backstroke after having swum butterfly, swimming breaststroke after having swum backstroke and butterfly, swimming freestyle after having swum breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly. Every time you transition to a new stroke, you feel the fatigue that comes from swimming the stroke or strokes before it.  

Transitioning between strokes can be challenging because each stroke has a different rhythm and feel to it. Transitioning quickly is important because the sooner you adjust to the next stroke, the more speed you’ll be able to generate.  

How can you learn to switch between strokes? Practice.  

Do a lot of repetitions switching between strokes in your workouts. This gives you many opportunities to discover the best way for you to quickly transition.  

There are one or two skills for each stroke that are really important for you. During a workout, do those skills as quickly as possible after switching strokes, ideally within the first stroke cycle. Practice allows you to figure out how to make it happen. 

In terms of race strategy for an IM, knowing your skills and abilities is important in developing a plan for maximizing your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses. There will be some strokes you’ll want to conserve energy on and some strokes you want to be more aggressive with. Exactly how you should do so depends on your skills, but the principle is the same for everyone. Just like learning how to quickly transition between strokes, discovering an effective race strategy takes practice during workouts. 

Common IM Turn Mistakes 

Common mistakes during IM transitions arise during the major components of the turn. Doing the key components of these turns properly will help you avoid common mistakes. 

Avoid losing speed going into your turn. To maintain your speed into your turn, keep your stroke rate up and finish on a full stroke. 

Doing a loose, slow turn. To do a fast turn, tuck tightly by punching your knees into your chest to form a tight ball. 

Doing a weak push-off. To do a great push-off, be patient and then strongly push into the wall once you’re in a streamlined position. 

Holding a bad streamlined position. To do a great streamline, push off in a straight, tight line that keeps resistance as low as possible. 

Doing an abrupt transition to the surface. To do a great transition to the surface, come up gradually, and focus on a level breakout. 

IM transitions can also be difficult to navigate because they must be done in a certain way to avoid disqualification. Failure to follow these rules will result in a disqualification. 

When you do a butterfly-to-backstroke transition, you must touch with both hands at the same time on your front and you must push off on your back.  

When you do a backstroke-to-breaststroke transition, you only have to touch with one hand, but you must touch while on your back and you must push off on your front.  

When you do a breaststroke-to-freestyle transition, you must touch with both hands at the same time on your front, and you must push off on your front.