Meaning & use

flip turn

noun·Advanced

A swimming technique in which a swimmer somersaults underwater to reverse direction and push off the wall at the end of a lap.

See it in a sentence

She practiced her flip turn for weeks until she could push off the wall without losing speed.

A clean flip turn can shave valuable seconds off a swimmer's overall time.

A note on using this word

The flip turn is standard in freestyle and backstroke racing but is not used in breaststroke or butterfly, which require touching the wall with both hands.

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