Can you swim the breaststroke?

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(Finally, I may be able to use AS as an excuse for my lack of coordination.)

Sorry, can't help you here

I could swim it quite well when I still trained, although my technique was terrible, apparently (although this held for most of my swimming.)

I like the breast stroke in that you get to look straight ahead. Maybe try making a medium sweep with your arms, neither too big nor too small.

Yes, but not very well. Backstroke is fair. I cannot do a butterfly. Crawl I can go forever if I keep the pace low.

we had mandatory crawl at school ( with the rest of the swimming styles too) and i could never manage to breathe in the little time allowed, my eyes were closed and i bumped into people ( or the wall) it was torture i got panick attacks...breast stokes at least allow breathing which i see as a good thing.

That's actually dangerous, the possibility of hitting the wall with your head. And one reason why you really don't want to make a habit of swimming alone. And you really need goggles so you can see the bottom of the pool and see when you're getting close.

And yes, I also like the fact that the breaststroke gives you more time to breath. And besides a medium arm sweep, the timing is tricky. For you are kicking at a different time than you are arm pulling. And at one point it almost seems as though your forward progress is coming to a stop, and that's when you're doing the stroke right! Yes, it is tricky.

I've done swimming for years, got every diploma there was to get and did competitional swimming too.

The breaststroke is the one I had to practice alot next to breastcrawl, not really had a problem with it when I memorized the technique.
Breastcrawl is my strongest technique, but that took years to perfect too.

I had alot of trouble as desribed in the above, but after years of practice it got lots better.

Try doing the dolphin kick/butterfly stroke if you are man/woman enough, that is a toughie .

EDIT: I wasn't reading it well, I mean breastcrawl instead of breaststroke.

Last edited by Wallourdes on 10 Dec 2010, 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

I have shoulder problems, so the breaststroke is much easier for me than the crawl. Since we are on the topic of swimming, I'm wondering about lung capacity. I can swim the length of a standard sized pool underwater on one breath. I scare lifeguards by meditating underwater for for minutes at a time. Does anyone else have larger than average lung capacity?

This is the one where you are on your belly and turn yuor head to the side with every stroke to get air?

If so then yes, but I was always very bad at it. Trying to coordinate my arms, head, and legs were a problem. I much prefered swimming on my back because all my limbs move together with the same motion and I can breathe naturally, not worrying about coordinating my breath and head with anything.

i can do this too, i beat my husband everytime. we're talking big male with supposedly huge lungs lol....but i used to train a lot as a child: just getting under water and trying to stay there as long as possible, i think i figured if i could just do this, i wouldn't drown so much during the crawl sessions. i found it easier to do the crawl with my head under water for some reason, but if i wasn't in school, my swimming style was very different. i spent part of my childhood in the carribeans, and was in the water a lot. i used to swim a bit like dolphins do. legs together, arms doing a bit of a breaststroke from time to time for balance and turns, but this style was not very appreciated by swimming teachers. i wonder why, because it's the most effective i've found...but of course it all happens under water, i never liked "surface swimming"anyway.

I had the highest lung capacity of the class when we measured it in a biology lesson. But I can't do breast stroke. Though I never really gave it a chance, it just didn't seem right for me when I first noticed it. I felt it was somehow uncool and pedestrian, and that the people who did it looked silly, but that could have been rationalisation. I did have some issues as a small child when Mum washed my hair by force without the faintest sympathy for the terrified state I was in, so it could well be related to that, though not very consciously. I like going under water but not a repeated dowsing, I'm only interested in seeing how long I can stay under, how far I can swim underwater, or experiencing the underwater environment. And I don't want to get trodden on, so until somebody gives me my own pool, I don't bother these days. My son goes underwater diving a lot, with the wet-suit and all.

For me the breast stroke was easier to really master than the crawl.

And I like it better. Im more into endurance than speed (swimming lenghts), and the breast stroke makes it easier to switch back and forth from surface swimming and underwater swimming.

Cant do the butterfly. Dont even wanna learn.

Breaststroke is the only way I can swim well.

Yes, and badly at that.

ruveyn

It's the only stroke I can actually do properly.

Yes. I can't swim the butterfly.