Breaststroke

Lore & Background

The history of breaststroke may go back to the Stone Age, as possibly indicated by images in the Cave of the Swimmers near Wadi Sora in southwestern Egypt. Depictions of a variant of breaststroke are found in Babylonian bas-relief and Assyrian wall drawings. In 1538, German professor Nicolas Wynman wrote the first swimming book, Colymbetes, which contained a methodical approach to learning breaststroke. In 1696, French author Melchisédech Thévenot wrote The Art of Swimming, describing a breaststroke very similar to the modern version, and the book helped popularize the technique. In 1774, English physician John Zehr gave public speeches...

Reader's Guide

Breaststroke holds a unique place in swimming history as the oldest known stroke and the slowest competitive style. Its recreational popularity stems from the swimmer's head being out of the water for much of the stroke, allowing comfortable slow speeds. The stroke's development has been shaped by rule changes, particularly regarding underwater swimming and the butterfly technique. The underwater pullout, including a dolphin kick allowed as of the 2024 season, contributes significantly to swimming times. The stroke's kick, sometimes called a 'frog kick' or 'whip kick,' allows gliding underwater longer than other strokes. Competitive breaststroke requires endurance and strength comparable to other strokes, with professional swimmers using abdominal muscles and hips for extra power in the 'wave-action' breaststroke. The stroke's history includes early scientific study by David Armbruster and the eventual separation of butterfly as a distinct style in 1952. The 2004 Olympics controversy over dolphin kicks led to rule changes in 2005. Breaststroke remains a fundamental stroke taught in most swimming classes, often alongside freestyle.

Did You Know?

• Breaststroke is the slowest of the four official styles in competitive swimming, with fastest swimmers reaching about 1.70 meters per second.
• The leg action of breaststroke may have originated by imitating the swimming action of frogs.
• Captain Matthew Webb used breaststroke to become the first person to swim the English Channel in 1875, covering 21.26 miles in 21 hours 45 minutes.
• In the 1956 Summer Olympics, Japanese swimmer Masaru Furukawa won gold by swimming most of the race underwater, leading to new FINA rules limiting underwater distance.

Ancient Roots and Early Documentation

The breaststroke's origins stretch back potentially to the Stone Age, with cave paintings near Wadi Sora in southwestern Egypt showing what appears to be the stroke's leg action. The movement is thought to have been inspired by watching frogs swim, a connection that persists in the nickname "frog stroke" used by many swimmers. Babylonian bas-reliefs and Assyrian wall drawings also depict variants of this swimming style, confirming its ancient presence across civilizations. The first written instructional material came in 1538 from German professor Nicolas Wynman, whose book Colymbetes offered a methodical approach to learning the stroke, though his motivation was reducing drownings rather than promoting fitness. Melchisédech Thévenot's 1696 work, The Art of Swimming, described a technique remarkably close to modern breaststroke and reached wide audiences, including Benjamin Franklin. By 1774, English physician John Zehr was giving public demonstrations to teach proper technique after a string of drownings, emphasizing how easily the stroke could be learned.

The Technique That Gave Birth to Butterfly

In 1928, University of Iowa coach David Armbruster began filming swimmers from underwater, marking the start of scientific swimming analysis. He discovered that breaststrokers lost significant speed while recovering their arms beneath the surface. In 1934, he refined a method to bring the arms forward over the water, a "butterfly" technique that dramatically improved speed. The following year, swimmer Jack Sieg at the same university developed a side-swimming technique with synchronized leg beats resembling a fish tail, later adapted to face-down swimming. Armbruster and Sieg merged these innovations into a breaststroke variant featuring a dolphin fishtail kick, with Sieg clocking 100 yards in 1:00.2. Though this hybrid violated existing rules, butterfly arms paired with a breaststroke kick appeared in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. By 1938, nearly all breaststrokers had adopted the butterfly style, yet it remained classified as a breaststroke variant until 1952, when it was finally recognized as its own distinct discipline with separate rules.

Biomechanics and the Underwater Advantage

Breaststroke is the slowest of the four competitive strokes, with the fastest swimmers reaching approximately 1.70 meters per second. The swimmer's body sits at a steep angle relative to forward motion, creating more drag than any other style. The kick, often called a "frog kick" for its resemblance to a frog's hind legs, is more accurately described as a "whip kick" when executed properly, with power traveling from the core down through the legs. Experienced competitors engage their abdominal muscles and hips to generate additional force, a form known as "wave-action" breaststroke. A distinctive competitive feature is the underwater pullout: from the streamline position, the swimmer pulls the arms past the hips, may execute one downward dolphin kick as of the 2024 season, then recovers to streamline with a breaststroke kick. The kick's power also allows breaststrokers to glide underwater longer than any other stroke, making the start and turns critical areas for improving race times.

From Channel Crossings to Olympic Recognition

Before freestyle dominated competitive swimming, breaststroke was the default race stroke in Europe. A landmark 1844 London competition featured Native American swimmers using a front-crawl variant while British competitors stuck to breaststroke, a division that persisted until 1873. Captain Matthew Webb's 1875 English Channel crossing of 21.26 miles in 21 hours and 45 minutes, swum entirely in breaststroke, remains one of the sport's most celebrated feats. The 1904 St. Louis Olympics marked the first time breaststroke received its own dedicated event over 440 yards, alongside separate backstroke and freestyle competitions. The stroke's accessibility also made it the most popular recreational style worldwide, with beginners in most swimming classes learning either breaststroke or freestyle first, thanks to the head remaining above water for much of the cycle and the ability to swim comfortably at slow speeds.

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