What is the Breaststroke?

Series Summary

Whether it is in a pool in the backyard or a pool in the Olympics, a river in the woods or the endless oceans, swimming is one of the world's favorite past times. Not only is swimming a great recreational hobby, it is one of the most efficient ways to exercise, both cardiovascular and muscle strengthening. Needless to say, with all of the benefits of swimming, it is a good idea to learn how to swim and the freestyle stroke is a great way to begin.

In this free video series, watch as competitive swimmer Phillip Toriello teaches how to swim the breaststroke. Learn how to use your arms and legs, how to breath, and how to start and finish a race. Get breathing and swimming drills to help improve your swimming technique and ability. Get started making a difference in your health with the help of these step by step swimming lessons from the experts at ExpertVillage.

Video Transcript

"PHILLIP TORIELLO: Hello and welcome to Expert Village, I'm Phillip Toriello from the Avila Bay Athletic Club. The Breaststroke Stroke. The breaststroke is one of the most popular recreational strokes out of the four. Really, it provides the opportunity to keep your head above the water on a recreational level, to swim around and leisurely cruise through the water. Now, the recreational side really isn't focused so much on the technique of breaststroke and just focuses on the security and the comfort of the stroke. However, when you get into the competitive aspect of breaststroke, breaststroke is the slowest of the four strokes. But there are several more fundamentals involved as opposed to your freestyle staying flat on the water, reach, catch, pull, push or your backstroke of thumb out, pinky in, bend the elbow, push. In breaststroke, there are some dynamics that take place where you're bending your body, you're bending your knees, you have a pull and push motion with your legs. So, there's a lot to consider. In competitive swimming, there are seven types of events that breaststroke is used. In competitive swimming, there are seven events in which breaststroke is used. Those include the 50, the 100, the 200 breaststroke, the 100 IM, the 200 IM, the 400 IM and the 400 medley relay."