The Breaststroke is the oldest known swimming stroke.  It is one of four strokes used in competitive swimming, but it is also very popular for leisure swimming because the head can be kept up and out of the water, making vision and breathing easy.  The swimmer can rest momentarily between strokes.

In this stroke, the arms and legs move symmetrically.  In the glide, your body is flat, prone and streamlined, with legs together and extended.  Extend your arms in front of your head.  Keep your palms down and 6-8 inches below the surface of the water.  Position your head with the water line near your hairline.  Keep your back straight and your body near horizontal, with hips and legs just below the surface.

In the glide position, angle your hands slightly downward at 45 degrees to the surface of the water.  With the arms straight, press your palms directly out until your hands are spread wider than your shoulders.  From this position, bend your elbows and sweep out your hands downward and outward until they pass under your elbows with the forearms vertical.  ELBOW ALERT:  Your elbows should be higher than your hands and lower than your shoulders.  Your elbows should also point outward not backward and your elbows should not pass back beyond your shoulders.

Then bring your hands together in a “praying” fashion and extend both hands up past your chin to full extension with palms facing down

BREASTSTROKE KICK (Frog Kick) in the prone position

The kick for this stroke is like the kick used for the Elementary Backstroke.  Begin by bending your hips and knees and bring your heels up toward your buttocks.  Then gradually separate your knees and heels until your knees are hip-width apart and your feet are outside your knees.  Keep your heels just under the surface.  Then flex and rotate your ankles outward to push the water with the soles of your feet.  The strongest propulsive action comes from drawing your feet as far forward as you can without upsetting good body position.

With a continuous whipping action, press your feet outward and backward until feet and ankles touch.  Propulsion results from the pressure of the water against the soles of your feet and the insides of your feet and lower legs. (Figure 4-24)

BREATHING

As your arms and hands start to pull backward, start lifting your head to breathe.  Near the end of the arm pull, your mouth just clears the water line and you inhale.  As your arms start to straighten, lower your face into the water.  Exhale in a slow, steady manner, mostly through your mouth until it is time to breath again.  You may breathe during each arm stroke or every other arm stroke.

Remember the timing of the Breaststroke with the phrase, “PULL AND BREATHE, KICK AND GLIDE”.

Taken from American National Red Cross “Swimming and Diving”, 2004