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All swimming strokes take time to be perfected. These descriptions may be able to help you out with some of the fine details.
Freestyle
In freestyle races you can technically swim any stroke, but the one most commonly used is the front crawl. This is the fastest stroke and also the easiest to learn.
The Stroke
Your body should rotate side to side slightly, as this will make your pull more efficient. (It'll do this anyway since you breathe to the side.)
Arms take strokes alternately, while one is recovering, the other is underwater, pulling. Your arm should enter the water, tips of fingers first, in front of you and pull down and backward. During recovery, the arm should be bent in a way that the elbow is above all other parts of the arm.
The kick is simply just a flutter kick, where the legs kick in an alternating fashion. This kick should be shallow, your feet should break the surface of the water.
Other
Timing is very easy to work out in this stroke.
Breathing is done to the side. When you bring your arm out of the water for recovery, turn your head to the side and breathe under the arm. You don't have to breathe every stroke, and should breathe as little as possible.
