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This question was raised in an XKCD What-If post (in footnote 3):

When a swimmer is submerged and moving at top speed, the drag from the water is equal to the thrust they generate by kicking and ... whatever the gerund form of the verb is for the things your arms do while swimming. My first thought was "stroking", but it's definitely not that.

What is the verb to use to describe what the swimmer's arms do?

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    I think "stroking" would work fine in this context. The arm movements in swimming are often referred to as a "stroke". You could say "paddling", but "stroke" conjures a more graceful image.
    – Oldbag
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 14:06
  • Submerged = fully underwater, not gliding on the surface partially submerged?
    – TimR
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 14:08
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    I don't think being submerged is important to the word choice here.
    – danarmak
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 14:20
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    Depends on the swimmer, doesn’t it? If the swimmer is me, for example, flailing would probably be apt.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 14:37
  • I don't at all understand physics, so I won't dare answer lest I make a fool of myself. But could you just use propelling? As in, "... the drag from the water is equal to the thrust they generate by propelling themselves forward." It's just as many words as "kicking and flailing."
    – EFrog
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 15:25

2 Answers 2

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pulling might work

From the site USASwimming.org

Their arms pull while their legs are streamlined, and the legs kick while their upper body is streamlined.

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  • I'd say the pull is only half of a full arm stroke (the other half being the recovery)
    – blgt
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 14:39
  • @blgt- I agree, but in this specific context the word is being used to describe the thrust generation portion of the stroke: "the drag from the water is equal to the thrust they generate by kicking and <pulling of the arms>" I will agree that an argument could be made that once the hands pass the shoulder it becomes pushing.
    – Jim
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 14:45
  • I agree (thus the +1), I'm just pointing out it's important to make the distinction. It's more specific (and also a better parallel for kicking) in the OP's context than what OP asked about. On a side note, pushing works just as well (as referring to the arm pushing the water)
    – blgt
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 14:48
  • It bothers me if 'pushing' and 'pulling' could be used to mean the same thing here. Is there evidence that one of them (or a different word) is more commonly used? I don't want to rely on my own intuition / experience in this case, hence the question.
    – danarmak
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 15:08
  • @danarmak They don't mean the same thing. You pull your hand towards your body, you push your hand against the water
    – blgt
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 15:33
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When a swimmer is submerged and moving at top speed, the drag from the water is equal to the thrust they generate by kicking and sweeping their arms.

ODO defines the corresponding noun sweep thus:

NOUN

2 A long, swift, curving movement:

a grandiose sweep of his hand

The advantage of this choice is that unlike pulling, it is a general term that does not specify whether the thrust (which is the desired outcome of the swimmer's movements) is achieved by pulling or pushing with the arms.

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  • When I read this, I see, "...kicking and sweeping their arms," as in, "kicking their arms and sweeping their arms." So if sweep were used, I would want it to say, "... kicking their legs and sweeping their arms," for the parallel. I think that's why the OP was looking for a single word... A perfect one probably doesn't exist though.
    – EFrog
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 15:30
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    @EFrog - You're right, it could be misinterpreted. But the ambiguity can be resolved easily, simply by reversing the order of description for the movements of the arms and legs: "When a swimmer is submerged and moving at top speed, the drag from the water is equal to the thrust they generate by sweeping their arms and kicking".
    – Erik Kowal
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 15:34
  • @ErikKowai Oh, that's better. I like that.
    – EFrog
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 15:36
  • But it does depend on the stroke being performed- the sidestroke, for example, does not use a sweeping arm motion.
    – Jim
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 16:13
  • @Jim - Any motion of the arm away from the body is a sweeping motion.
    – Erik Kowal
    Commented Jan 10, 2015 at 4:05

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