The 50 metre butterfly as run at a national school sports meet: one length of the pool swum with simultaneous arm strokes and a dolphin kick, judged on time and on strict stroke legality.
The 50 metres butterfly is a one-length sprint swum with both arms moving together. The arms are brought forward over the water at the same time and pulled back together, while the legs work in a simultaneous dolphin kick, with the body rising and falling in a wave. It is the most physically demanding of the four competitive strokes over a short distance, and the fastest legal swim wins, so a strong time can still be lost to a technical breach.
In this template the item is entered by individual swimmers in four fields: Junior boys and Junior girls (under 17, ages 11 to 16) and Senior boys and Senior girls (under 19, ages 14 to 18). The result is a finishing time in minutes, seconds and hundredths. The template carries a nominal five-minute limit with a warning at four minutes; a 50 metre sprint is over in well under a minute, so these limits are placeholders a coordinator can ignore or tighten. A longer 100 metres butterfly sits alongside it in the same programme.
An entry on the day is one swimmer with a lane, a heat number and a call-room time. Unlike backstroke, the start is from the blocks or the pool edge, and the stroke judges must see every swimmer's arms and legs clearly to check that both sides move together. Large fields are swum in heats seeded by entry time and merged into one ranking per field, with a results desk recording each time and any disqualification slip.
Organisers run it because it gives the strongest, most explosive swimmers an event of their own, rounds out the four-stroke swimming programme, and rewards the timing and core strength that carry into every other stroke. In this template a Gold finish carries 5 bonus points, Silver 3 and Bronze 1.
Where 50 meters Butterfly comes from
Butterfly developed in the early 1950s out of breaststroke, when swimmers found that bringing both arms forward over the water was faster, and it was accepted as a separate stroke for competition shortly afterwards.
Where 50 meters Butterfly is run
In eTalenter the item is carried by the national school sports and games template for Indian school-board affiliates, as part of the swimming programme alongside the 50 metre freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke, the 100 metre strokes and the 4x50 metre relay. More widely, the 50 metre butterfly is a standard short-course and school-gala event.
- India (national school sports meet for board-affiliated schools)
- Worldwide as a swimming event
Key facts
- Individual race, run separately for boys and girls
- Four fields: Junior (U-17) and Senior (U-19), each for boys and for girls
- One length of a 50 metre pool, swum with simultaneous arms and a dolphin kick
- Starts from the blocks or pool edge, unlike backstroke's in-water start
- Result is a finishing time in minutes, seconds and hundredths of a second
- Medal points in this template: Gold 5, Silver 3, Bronze 1
On eTalenter, 50 meters Butterfly is filed under Water Sports and typically scored with Time (MM:SS.ms). It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, 50 meters Butterfly is most often entered as an Individual competition, commonly run for Female, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 5 minutes where a limit is set.
How it is scored
The scoring method the templates attach to this item, and what that scale means.
- Best score is
- the lowest
- Decimal places
- 2
- Unit
- seconds / milliseconds
- Used for
- Sports
Where it sits
The category this competition is filed under when a template is installed.
Others in this category: Swimming, Diving, Rowing, Canoeing, Kayaking, Water Polo, Surfing
Judging criteria installed for it
eTalenter matches an item to its criteria on the words in its name, and creates exactly these when the template is installed.
No criteria match this name, so none are created automatically — judges score it on the event’s own criteria instead.
What judges look at in 50 meters Butterfly
What a 50 meters Butterfly panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Finishing time: the fastest legal swim wins, so hundredths of a second decide medals and tie rules should be agreed before the day
- Simultaneous arms: both arms must move forward together over the water and back together, so an alternating or uneven stroke risks disqualification
- Simultaneous kick: the legs must move together in the dolphin kick, and a breaststroke or flutter kick is an illegal technique that can lose the swim
- Two-hand touch: the swimmer must touch the wall with both hands at the same time and at the same level, at the turn and at the finish
- Shoulders level: the shoulders must stay level with the water surface, so a swimmer who rolls to one side or drops one arm is penalised
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for 50 meters Butterfly under Scoring Setup, or start from how judging, scoring and tabulation work on eTalenter.
How to prepare for 50 meters Butterfly
How entrants and their teachers usually get 50 meters Butterfly right on the day:
- Drill the dolphin kick on the front, on the back and underwater with a board, building a kick that starts at the chest and ends at the toes
- Practise single-arm butterfly in training so each arm learns the pull before both are combined
- Breathe every second stroke over a 50 metre sprint, lifting the chin forward rather than up, and avoid lifting the head too high, which drags the hips down
- Time the finish so the last stroke ends with both hands reaching the wall together, rather than gliding in with one hand
- Do core and shoulder conditioning on land, because butterfly punishes weak trunk strength more than any other stroke
- Ask a teacher or friend to watch from poolside and call out any uneven arm recovery or scissor kick
- On race day warm up in the pool, keep dry clothes and towels by the poolside, and avoid a heavy meal in the final hour
Events that run this (1)
Ready-made templates that already include this competition. Installing one sets it up for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is 50 meters Butterfly judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Individual entry, commonly for Female, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
What is the difference between butterfly and breaststroke?
Butterfly is swum with a dolphin kick and arms that recover over the water, while breaststroke uses a frog kick and keeps the arm recovery under or at the surface. Using a breaststroke kick in a butterfly race is a technical fault.
Is the 50 metre butterfly judged by a panel?
Not for style marks. The result is a finishing time, but stroke judges watch for illegal technique and can disqualify a swimmer.
Can girls and boys enter the 50 metre butterfly in this template?
Yes, in separate races. It is assigned to Junior (under 17) and Senior (under 19) fields for both boys and girls.
Does a 50 metre butterfly swimmer have to touch the wall with both hands?
Yes. Under the usual butterfly rules both hands touch the wall together at the turn and at the finish; a one-hand touch can lead to disqualification.
Similar competitions
Items whose names share a word with this one — usually the same discipline in another form.
Want the full judging picture? Read how judging, scoring and tabulation work on eTalenter, or browse every water sports competition item.
Try 50 meters Butterfly in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs 50 meters Butterfly, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
