Editing Breaststroke (section)

==Speed and ergonomics==
Breaststroke is the slowest of the four<!--Freestyle is NOT an official style, but rather "ANY" style! Hence there are only THREE official styles! Therefore, please, don't change the number listed here. See talk.--> official styles in [[swimming (sport)|competitive swimming]]. The fastest breaststrokers can swim about 1.70 meters (~5.6 feet) per second. It is sometimes the hardest to teach to rising swimmers after [[butterfly (swimming)|butterfly]] due to the importance of timing and the coordination required to move the legs properly.<ref name="cenews2009">{{cite web
 | url=http://www.swim-city.com/library.php3?id=99
 | date=August 2002
 | title=Teaching Breaststroke
 | author=Dave Salo
 | publisher=Swim-City.com
 | access-date=2009-11-23
 | url-status=dead
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716172218/http://www.swim-city.com/library.php3?id=99
 | archive-date=16 July 2011 }}</ref>

In the breaststroke, the swimmer leans on the chest, arms breaking the surface of the water slightly, legs always underwater and the head underwater for the second half of the stroke. The kick is sometimes referred to as a "[[frog kick]]" because of the resemblance to the movement of a frog's hind legs; however, when done correctly it is more of a "whip kick" due to the whip-like motion that moves starting at the core down through the legs.

The body is often at a steep angle to the forward movement, which slows down the swimmer more than any other style. Professional breaststrokers use abdominal muscles and hips to add extra power to the kick, although most do not perfect this technique until they are more experienced. This much faster form of breaststroke is referred to as "wave-action" breaststroke and fully incorporates the whip-kick.

A special feature of competitive breaststroke is the underwater pullout. From the [[streamline (swimming)|streamline]] position, one uses the arms to pull all the way down past the hips. As the arms are pulling down, one downward [[dolphin kick]] is allowed (as of the 2024 season), though still optional; more than one dolphin kick will result in disqualification. This is followed by the recovery of the arms to the streamline position once more with a breaststroke kick. The pullout is also called the "pull down". The pullout at the start and after the turns contributes significantly to the swimming times. Open turns can be easily performed at the walls, but both hands must make contact with the wall. Therefore, one way to improve swimming times is to focus on the start and the turns.

Breaststroke, specifically the kick, allows you to glide underwater for much more time than any other stroke, as the kick has a lot of power and force when swimming in a pool. A competitive swimmer swimming this stroke will be underwater for a lot of the stroke due to the gliding and kicking.

<gallery widths="200" heights="140">
File:Breaststroke.gif|Front view of the breaststroke
File:Breaststroke2.gif|Side view of the breaststroke
File:Breaststroke3.gif|Top view of the breaststroke
</gallery>