Butterfly is definitely one of  the most challenging and difficult strokes in the sport of swimming. Not many swimmers like to do the butterfly stroke, because it takes such a great amount of energy to do.

    Butterfly developed as a separate and distinct stroke from the breaststroke. When it was given Olympic status in Istle at the Melbourne Games. At these games a 200 meter butterfly was held, and 12 years later in Mexico, the 100 meter butterfly race was added to the program. It is a  graceful stroke, but the grace is very had won. Swimmers say it is the most physically demanding of all of the strokes. The 100 meter butterfly final in Mexico in 1968 featured one of the many disappointments that Mark Spitz had. He was beaten by his fellow American opponent, Doug Russell, something that never occurred before. Four years later, Spitz competed at the Munich Games, and he came back and set an Olympic record that stood for an unbelievable twelve years. Unfortunately, while competitors were swimming the butterfly at the Munich Games, there was great amount of tragedy in the history of the Olympics. The Olympic village was broken by Palestinian terrorists who murdered two Israeli athletes while swimming. But, at the Munich Games, the day before the two Israelites were killed, a man named Michael Gross wont the 200 meter and 100 meter butterfly races.