Benefits from Breaststroke Swimming
Breaststroke has existed since prehistoric times. Stone Age paintings featuring a similar stroke were found in the ‘cave of swimmers’ near Wadi Sora in Egypt. It was the only stroke permitted during the great plague in the Middle Ages, because swimmers could keep their faces out of the water and therefore would not, it was believed, spread the epidemic.
Breaststroke was also the preferred stroke in Victorian Britain, where an overarm action was deemed inelegant and unsuitable for ladies and gentlemen. It was the original competitive stroke and was popularized by Captain Webb who, in 1875, became the first man to swim the English Channel.
In the UK and many other parts of the world, breaststroke remains the most popular stroke today. Its relative stability, with the arms and legs working in tandem, makes it accessible to swimmers of all levels. For many, its appeal is the long glide where the arms and legs are still as the swimmer advances; others appreciate that it strengthens and tones their legs, whilst some choose it as the best means of keeping their hair dry!
Breaststroke is easy to swim but hard to swim well; despite its popularity few are able to perform the stroke in a way that promotes good overall ‘use’. Many swim with their heads held up out of the water, placing great pressure on the spine. Even if people swim with their face in the water, they rarely have an effective arm and leg action or good timing.
Furthermore, because most have swum this stroke regularly since childhood, detrimental habits have become so strongly ingrained that the prospect of change is more challenging than with a less familiar stroke.
There is little point in tinkering with individual elements of the stroke: the best recipe for success is to recraft it from scratch. The following three breaststroke lessons take you through a series of practices covering the core elements of the stroke. Only when you have firmly established an effective arm and leg action are you ready to progress to the more complex process of coordinating the stroke and integrating the breath.
Key features
Orientation – Low, both in the glide, where the neck is fully extended with the eyes looking straight down, and in the breathing position, where the chin rests near the surface.
Arm action – In the initial glide position, the arms are directed slightly downward. Little effort is expended in the opening phase as the upper back widens; in the propulsive movement, the focus is on holding the water to draw the torso forward and up, as opposed to pulling the arms back.
Leg action – We stress the importance of the non-propulsive element of the leg action, where the legs release before actively pushing back. We advocate a wide, wedge-like action as opposed to the narrower, more common whip kick, because it promotes hip mobility and reduces the risk of knee injury.
Rhythm – In the competitive model, where the objective is to move into the propulsive actions as quickly as possible, a long glide is perceived as a waste of time. Breaststroke is a series of glides punctuated by active movements. The glide is at the heart of the stroke, giving the swimmer more time to release the breath and lengthen and widen the back.
Benefits
As a leg-dominant stroke, the breaststroke strengthens and tones the quadriceps at the front of the legs and the hamstrings at the back. This is also the reason why breaststroke can be an effective way of improving aerobic fitness, as despite being the slowest stroke, it burns the most calories. Many find the long glide, where the swimmer gently exhales, particularly calming and meditative. Because of the inherent stability of the stroke, it is often a comfortable way to begin to explore the transition between air and water.