God knows I was not a good breastroker. Fortunately, you don’t need to be good at something to be good at teaching something. So I have learned from watching some of the great Race Club breastrokers, like Darren Mew (UK) and Ricky Barbosa (Brazil). I particularly liked watching Rebecca Soni swim in Beijing. What I liked was how in front her hands are. She pulls back less than any breastroke I have seen. OK, she has great legs….but she arches her back high on the breath, lifts her shoulders and then strikes with her legs like a Cobra going for the kill. The photo below taken of Darren Mew is the most revealing and illustrative photo I have ever seen: Look at the arch in the back and look at the leg position….ready for the strike. Once you strike with the legs, drop the head lower than you think to get your bum and feet to finish on the surface.

photo by Stephen Frink