Front crawl is the fastest swimming style known, and therefore usually swum in freestyle competitions. The front crawl is one of two long axis strokes; the other being backstroke. It is not a swimming style officially regulated by FINA unlike breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly.
The front crawl has been in use since ancient times. In the western world, the front crawl was first seen in 1844 in London. Native Americans participating in this competition swam front crawl, defeating the British breaststroke swimmers easily. As this produced considerably splashing in the water and embarrassment outside, it was considered a barbaric and "un-European" way to swim to the British gentlemen, who preferred to keep their heads out of the water. Subsequently, the British continued to swim only breaststroke until 1873.
In 1873 John Arthur Trudgen learned the front crawl stroke from Native Americans during a trip to South America (the exact date, however, is disputed and may be anywhere between 1870 and 1890). However, Trudgen mistakenly used the (in Britain) more common breaststroke kick instead of the flutter kick used by the Native Americans. This stroke was then called the Trudgen or Trudgen. Due to its speed the stroke quickly became popular.
The Trudgen was improved by the British-born Australian swimming teacher and swimmer Richard (Fred, Frederick) Cavill. Like Trudgen, he watched natives from the Solomon Islands, using front crawl. But unlike Trudgen, he noticed the flutter kick, and studied it closely. He used this new flutter kick instead of the breaststroke (or scissor) kick. This modified Trudgen stroke became known as Australian crawl until 1950, when it was shortened to crawl, technically known as front crawl. This stroke is with minor modifications the front crawl used today.
