Many triathletes resort to the breaststroke during open water swims, when they lose their freestyle rhythm. We all know that freestyle is faster, but is it for everyone?
I have heard of breaststroke specialists who can cover 400m in less than 6 minutes. Not too shabby.
For those who have difficulty mastering freestyle, would it be worthwhile to focus on the breaststroke, learn to do it fast? Could you be competitive with the freestylers?
Breastroke specialists would go a LOT faster than 6min for a 400m actually.
Now the main issue is that breaststroke is probably the ONE stroke that you either get or you don’t, no matter what you do. It’s a lot more technical than it looks…and to be competitive with freestylers, good luck, it would go faster to learn to be a good butterfly swimmer.
So, in short the answer is no…you can learn breaststroke to get out of the water with no time expectations, but to get out fast, good luck.
Many triathletes resort to the breaststroke during open water swims, when they lose their freestyle rhythm. We all know that freestyle is faster, but is it for everyone?
I have heard of breaststroke specialists who can cover 400m in less than 6 minutes. Not too shabby.
For those who have difficulty mastering freestyle, would it be worthwhile to focus on the breaststroke, learn to do it fast? Could you be competitive with the freestylers?
Breaststroke is a harder stroke to learn to do properly, it’s harder on the knees, and how are you going to explain what in the hell you’re doing when you whip kick someone in the face?
Oh, and maybe the Olympic level swimmers can go that speed, but the general public is pretty much going to be dog slow.
John
Now the main issue is that breaststroke is probably the ONE stroke that you either get or you don’t, no matter what you do. It’s a lot more technical than it looks…
When I attempt the breaststroke I actually go backwards, I don’t get it!
Do everyone who will be overtaking you a favor and do NOT breastroke.
I met a lady at IMAZ '07 who was planning to do the entire 2.4 breaststroke. She said that she’d been doing it “from the cradle”. It can be done, but if you’re unable to master freestlye you don’t stand much of a chance mastering the breastroke, much less becoming proficient enough at it to race it.
Even if you were a fast breaststroker, it seems like that stroke + wetsuit would not go very well. Are wetsuits flexible enough in the legs for you to be able to kick well?
Not to mention how many people you’d kick…
“Do everyone who will be overtaking you a favor and do NOT breastroke.”
No kidding. Geez. Nothing like coming up on some one from a previous wave and having their foot whip around and plug you in the nose.
… that stroke + wetsuit would not go very well. Are wetsuits flexible enough in the legs for you to be able to kick well?
Most of our triathlons in florida are not wetsuit-legal. The water temp gets up into the 80’s.
I guess my thinking on this would be about efficiency. If you take the time to spend doing breaststroke that well, you should be able to develop efficiency in freestyle to a greater degree. Most people that I know that resort to this have not taken the time to address the key limiters of face in water and breathing to the side. With a great amount of power coming from the kick in breaststroke, and you need to use those legs for two more events, it should be better to focus on free. Now, for MOP or BOP age groupers, fine to do breast and many may go faster in the water that some of the others doing free but be curteous and go wide so as not to take up some much space.
I got kicked in the mouth (and was bleeding) by a weak breaststroker the other day. She’s lucky she was gone by the end of my interval.
Don’t do it. Just don’t do it. Freestyle is easy - maybe this is the wrong sport for you? :S
… how are you going to explain what in the hell you’re doing when you whip kick someone in the face?
I see a lot of breaststrokers in our local tris. I’ve never been kicked by one.
Don’t most swimmers watch where they’re going?
Yes. It isn’t the person that starts out with breaststroke that gets me, since I can avoid. It is the one that “gives up” free and goes to breast stroke. Feet that were moving up and down vertically, now come straight back horizontal and much stronger. That is rude, and dangerous to fellow athletes. Same with being unpredictable on the bike, such as reaching for a water bottle and swerving.
I agree that as part of our race prep we have to expect some of that and one way if we don’t like it, is to swim faster and avoid the mayhem, but with wave starts you also come up on other waves and that is where it can be concerning. I would much rather get kicked by a two beat flutter than a breaststroke kick any day.
I got kicked in the mouth (and was bleeding) by a weak breaststroker the other day. She’s lucky she was gone by the end of my interval.
Sounds like you were very angry. What would you have done to her?
What would I have done to her? I would have had words for her. What were you expecting?
Yes. It isn’t the person that starts out with breaststroke that gets me, since I can avoid. It is the one that “gives up” free and goes to breast stroke. Feet that were moving up and down vertically, now come straight back horizontal and much stronger. That is rude, and dangerous to fellow athletes. Same with being unpredictable on the bike, such as reaching for a water bottle and swerving.
I agree that as part of our race prep we have to expect some of that and one way if we don’t like it, is to swim faster and avoid the mayhem, but with wave starts you also come up on other waves and that is where it can be concerning. I would much rather get kicked by a two beat flutter than a breaststroke kick any day.
… how are you going to explain what in the hell you’re doing when you whip kick someone in the face?
I see a lot of breaststrokers in our local tris. I’ve never been kicked by one.
Don’t most swimmers watch where they’re going?
It’s hard to watch what’s going on underwater, maybe you’re special but I can’t tell what’s happening in front of me from the glimpses I get sighting, just where I’m headed.
I was doing oceanside 70.3 a few years ago (back when it was a “half ironman,” and snowing uphill both ways) and coming up on a wave that started before me, there was a guy breaststroking perpendicular to the race course. WTF? I can understand breaststroke when you’re tired, but across the course? There wasn’t even a kayak over there.
Go to who ever told you that, point at them and laugh. breast stroke is the hardest of the four strokes to do properly and requires more energy then even butterfly while being the slowest of the four.
and a 6 min 400 is dirt slow even for breaststroke. thats 1:30 hundreds for gods sake. any half ass swimmer should be able to do hundreds of breaststroke on that send off.
Most of our triathlons in florida are not wetsuit-legal.
In New England, we are just not this lucky!
The breaststroke is dangerous to other competitors and should be illegal in triathlons. I have been in many races where there is zero visibility, so it’s not like you can necessarily see what the person in front (or to the side) of you is doing. Also, there is often not room to stay clear of someone, even if you could see what they are doing. This was the start of IMFL last year. Not a whole lot of room.
breaststroke is harder than freestyle. it requires more energy. there is a reason why the olympics has the 1500m freestyle and no 1500m breaststroke.