What does backstroke mean?
Word: Backstroke
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Backstroke means a way of swimming on your back in which you lift your arms over your head one after the other and kick your legs.
How do you spell backstroke?
Syllables: back - stroke
Tricky part: The k sound at the end of the first beat is written ck, so students who write it as they hear it put bakstroke.
Watch out for: bakstroke, backstrok
Memory tip: C and k hold hands in the middle of this word: one sound, two letters.
Backstroke in a sentence
Example 1: Priya likes backstroke because she can breathe easily the whole time.
Example 2: At the school swimming gala, Sameer won the 50-metre backstroke race.
Example 3: Coach showed us how to keep our heads still during backstroke.
Fun Fact
Backstroke is the only one of the four Olympic swimming strokes in which races start in the water instead of with a dive from the blocks.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) waterprouf
b) sunscrean
c) backstroke
d) lifegaurd
Show answer
c) backstroke. Lifeguard has ua after the g, sunscreen ends in een and waterproof ends in oof.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
sarbcketok
a) bystander
b) breakout
c) backstroke
d) bookstall
Show answer
c) backstroke. Bookstall has two l's, bystander has a y and a d, and breakout has a u, so none of them fits these ten letters.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) swimmer
b) goggels
c) backstroke
d) flippers
Show answer
b) goggels. Goggles ends in les, just like giggles.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
b_ckstr_ke
a) a,o
b) e,o
c) a,u
d) u,o
Show answer
a) a,o. The first vowel is the short a of cat, and the second is the long o of home.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. During a backstroke race, a swimmer's face points ____.
a) towards the side wall
b) up out of the water
c) back at the start
d) down to the pool floor
Show answer
b) up out of the water
2. Which of these is also the name of a swimming stroke?
a) somersault
b) handstand
c) cartwheel
d) butterfly
Show answer
d) butterfly
