Individual strokes are events where the swimmer swims alone against the other swimmers.  Swimmers are primarily selected to swim individual strokes based on their observed skill level in practice. The team philosophy is to generally let swimmers participate in as many events as possible. Parents can communicate individual strokes that their swimmer does/doesn't want to swim when registering for the meets in the Notes to Coach section. We generally honor those requests, but may discuss with the parent if we believe the capability is there. 

Individual Strokes: The individual strokes are Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Butterfly. Any swimmer in any age group may swim any event, but we don't begin to teach Breaststroke and Butterfly until swimmers advance to the 7-8 group.

Individual Medley (I.M.): The I.M. is a special individual stroke where one swimmer swims each of the four strokes in a single event. It is a test of skill, strategy, and endurance. It is generally apparent when a swimmer is ready to try this event. Experience shows that very few under age 9 will be asked if they want to try. The stroke order for the I.M. is 1) Butterfly  2) Backstroke  3) Breaststroke  4) Freestyle.