Tune Up Your Breaststroke
Ask the Coach
Breaststroke training often focuses on the kick, as it's a kick-driven stroke. But Arizona Masters Swim Club Coach Brigid Bunch has her swimmers focus on both their pull and their kick during breaststroke sets.
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She recommends doing breaststroke pull sets whether you're an elite breaststroker or someone who struggles to kick breaststroke. “I love working on the feel of the water during the scull,” Bunch says. She recommends not using a pull buoy when pulling because it hinders your body alignment.
Bunch often also creates a breaststroke kick set so her swimmers can work on “riding the glide,” or staying in a streamlined position to help conserve energy in the 200 breaststroke. She asks her swimmers to focus on finishing their kick: bringing their feet together at the end to get every bit of propulsion out of each kick.
From the Center Lanes
North Carolina Masters Swimming member Sara Dunn knows the 200 breaststroke can be a painful event, but she's found the key to success: her perfect racing plan.
She builds the race to have the capacity to finish strong by increasing her stroke rate as the race progresses. This leads to the five-time USMS All-American having an aggressive final 50 as other swimmers might be feeling the burn.
“For me, it's only a 50 left in the race,” says Dunn, 49, who holds 58 USMS individual Top 10 times and swam breaststroke on three USMS-record-setting relays. “I can do anything for 50 more yards. I'm not a sprinter, and the 200 allows me to stretch it out. There's a little more strategy in the 200.”
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