1. The breathing pattern of butterfly is completely up to you. Most people actually do not breathe every stroke as this breaks the body position of the swimmer, since when most swimmers breathe they drop their hips and then have to set up again. Once you get really good at the fly and can keep you body position, you have the option of breathing every stroke. I breathe every stroke, because it helps me keep a rhythm. But I’ve also been swimming butterfly for eight years.

2. There is no transition between freestyle and backstroke. In the IM, the transitions are fly to back, back to breast, and breast to free. Fly to back is an open turn, back to breast is, as you said, an open turn, and breast to free is an open turn. Between the first lap of back and the second yes you do a flip turn, as you would for the freestyle.

1. The proper way is every other stroke. This is because when lifting your head up during this partiular stroke, the water will break on your chest instead of your head, which is large, bulkier surface and will ultimately slow you down. I know it may seem tiring to breath only every other, but try it out, practice and soon you’ll be flying.

2. The IM medly goes fly, back, breast, free so there is no transition between free and back. However, in the transition between fly and back, you do a two hand touch, half turn to any side, one hand goes over and one hand goes under and push off in streamline on your back underwater.

A lot of coaches say to breathe every other stroke. Yet when I watch their swimmers or nationally ranked swimmers they breathe every stroke. On a 50 you can hold your breath, but on a longer race, the air is more important than the streamlined position. I think the most important time to NOT breathe is going into the turns and the first stroke out.

If you breathe into the turn you really slow down. You also increase the likelihood of missing the turn. When you breath off the turn you slow down the speed you got from the push-off. Also, don’t breathe on the finish.

Whatever your breathing pattern, you have to practice it. A lot. You should experiment and see what works best for you.

Yes, you should flip between the strokes. Phelps and most of the Americans did flip turns from the back to breast portion on their IMs. It’s hard to do and takes a lot of conditioning. If you’re good, you could work on it. If you’re less experienced, just get the stroke count down, work on tight turns and great streamlines!