Breaststroke swimming technique

The word “breaststroke” – French origin, translated means “breeding hands.” Breaststroke is a swimming style on the chest, during which the athlete performs simultaneous and symmetrical strokes with his hands (hands move forward from the chest), as well as simultaneous and symmetrical pushes with his legs in a horizontal plane below the surface of the water.

Breaststroke is the slowest way to swim, as the return movements of the arms are performed underwater, and the movements of the legs are interrupted.

Breaststroke, the most accessible and therefore the most popular style of swimming, is of great practical importance. With the breaststroke you can swim the greatest distance with the least energy consumption, you can move silently, when moving with this style you can perfectly view the surface space, if necessary, you can swim with the breaststroke in clothes. The breaststroke is successfully used in the initial stages of learning to swim, when excessive stress on the muscles is undesirable.

Breaststroke is the oldest swimming style. In the Egyptian “Cave of the Swimmers” (circa 9000 BC) there are cave paintings depicting swimming people whose movements resemble those performed by modern breaststroke athletes.

The breaststroke technique was first analyzed by the Dane Nicholas Winman in a book published in 1538. In all schools of swimming, breaststroke has occupied a leading position for several centuries.

Breaststroke: Swimming technique

Hand movement
In the first phase, the hands must be immersed in the water deeper, and then spread them apart in different directions with the palms outward. You do not need to bend your arms, they should be parallel to the water surface. In the next phase, an inward stroke is made, in which it is necessary to turn the hands with the palms down, and push the water back. Continue this movement to the level of your shoulders. Then the palms are joined near the chest, and the elbows are on the sides of the body. In the last phase, the hands again go forward, reaching the original position.
The cycle starts at a low speed, which gradually increases, reaching its highest point during the inward stroke, and then decreases again during the transition to the return phase. The swimmer’s main goal is to create as much momentum as possible with the inward stroke and as little resistance as possible on the return.

Leg movements
When the swimmer makes a stroke with his upper limbs (in order to reduce the resistance of the water), he simultaneously pulls both legs towards him. In this case, the feet should be spread much wider than the knees, and then push with both legs. At this time, the athlete’s hands are stretched forward.
After the end of the entire cycle, the swimmer continues to slide on the surface for some time. At this point, it should fully extend to reduce water resistance.
At the amateur level, you can also use the crawl vertical movement of the lower limbs, but this method is strictly prohibited for use in professional sports by FINA rules.

The only thing that athletes can do in competition is one wave-like movement (such as is done in butterfly). It can be done either after the start or when turning around near the edge of the pool, but only during the first stroke.

Swimmer’s breathing in breaststroke
In the described swimming style, the athlete’s head must completely repeat the movements made by the spine. The second the arms are lowered down the torso, a support is created to raise the head above the surface.
It is necessary to inhale oxygen through the mouth, exhale air through the nose and mouth during the entire further movement, up to a new breath.

To speed up, you can avoid diving every time, but FINA rules dictate that the head must cross the water surface in every stroke cycle, except for the 1st cycle at the start or turn at the side of the pool.

Breaststroke became an independent type of program at the 1904 Olympics, then even professional athletes swam breaststroke, keeping their heads above the water. Only in the 1930s. many swimmers (including representatives of the Soviet school) began to lower their heads into the water while stretching their arms forward.

The breaststroke swimming method is assigned to 6 numbers in the Olympic program: distances of 50, 100 and 200 m for women and men. In addition, this method is used in the third stage of the integrated swimming at distances of 200 and 400 m and in the second stage of the 4 x 100 m relay combined.