GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
How far may swimmers stay underwater after a start or turn?
In Freestyle, Backstroke, and Butterfly, the February 2026 World Aquatics rules allow complete submersion during a turn and for no more than 15 metres after a start or turn; the swimmer’s head must have broken the surface by the mark. The finish has a separate five-metre exception, and Breaststroke has its own start-and-turn wording.
For Swimming fans and athletes comparing the underwater rules after starts and turns across strokes. · Updated
The 15-metre limit applies after starts and turns
Part Two Articles 5.3, 6.3, and 8.6 set this limit for Freestyle, Backstroke, and Butterfly. The swimmer may be completely submerged during a turn and within the first 15 metres after the start and each turn. By the 15-metre mark, the head must have broken the surface.
Butterfly has an additional start-and-turn allowance: underwater, the swimmer may use one or more leg kicks and one arm pull, and those movements must bring the swimmer to the surface. That detail belongs to Butterfly; it should not be applied to Freestyle or Backstroke.
The finish has a different submersion exception
Freestyle Article 5.4 permits complete submersion once some part of the head has passed the five-metre mark immediately before reaching for the finish wall. Backstroke Article 6.5 and Butterfly Article 8.6 use the head having passed that mark in their finish-approach wording. Keep each stroke’s wording and the reach-for-finish context distinct from the start-and-turn 15-metre rule.
For Backstroke, the finish still requires touching the wall while on the back. For a local meet, check the edition named in that meet’s rules; the February 2026 World Aquatics edition does not establish what every event has adopted.
Do not fold Breaststroke into the 15-metre explanation
Part Two Article 7.1 has separate wording after a Breaststroke start or turn. Among its details, it permits a single Butterfly kick before the first Breaststroke kick. It does not use the same 15-metre rule as Articles 5.3, 6.3, and 8.6.
Fictional Backstroke turn at the mark
In a fictional race governed by this edition, a swimmer’s head first breaks the surface exactly at the 15-metre mark after a turn. That matches the rule’s requirement that the head be at the surface by the mark. The example illustrates the Backstroke wording only; it does not decide a real race or establish which rules a local meet uses.
Related questions
Does the same 15-metre rule apply to Breaststroke?
No. Part Two Article 7.1 gives Breaststroke its own start-and-turn wording, including a single Butterfly-kick exception before the first Breaststroke kick. Do not transfer the Freestyle, Backstroke, or Butterfly 15-metre wording to Breaststroke.
Can a swimmer be completely underwater near the finish?
The finish clauses are separate: Freestyle Article 5.4 refers to some part of the head having passed the five-metre mark immediately before reaching for the finish wall. Backstroke Article 6.5 and Butterfly Article 8.6 refer to the head having passed the mark when reaching for the finish. Backstroke also requires touching the finish wall while on the back.