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individual medley

American

noun

Swimming.

a race in which the total distance is either divided into three equal portions, in which each swimmer uses the backstroke for the first portion, the breaststroke for the second portion, and the freestyle for the third, or the total distance is divided into four equal portions, in which each swimmer uses the butterfly stroke for the first portion and then the other strokes used follow the same pattern as in the three-part medley.

Etymology

Origin of individual medley

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

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individual medley

Poster boy Duncan Scott started the rush, defending his 200m individual medley gold from Birmingham four years ago by slicing a chunk off his own Games record.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Olympic swim stars Summer McIntosh and Leon Marchand cruised to 200m individual medley victories as US great Katie Ledecky impressed again on the second day of the Pro Swim Series in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.

From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026

He opted out of the 100m individual medley on Friday and went for the 400m freestyle.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025

Granada Hills won all three relays and sophomore Isabella San Jose won the 200 individual medley in 2:08.62 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.69, then anchored the 4x100 freestyle relay.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2025

Elsewhere on Saturday, Faye Rogers finished fourth in the women's 200m SM10 individual medley.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023