Breast Stroke History
Breaststroke was already popular in the Stone
Age.The first depictions of breaststroke can be
found as cave paintings in southwestern
Egypt:The “Cave of the Swimmers” was
discovered in 1933 on the Gilf-el-Kebir Plateau
and contains numerous drawings of people
swimming breaststroke. These paintings are
believed to have been made about 10,000 to
5,500 years ago
Breaststroke was included in the Olympics for
the first time in 1904, race was held over a
distance of 440 yards.
Steps on doing Breast Stroke:
1. Glide: Start with your arms fully extended in
front of your body with your palms pointing down
and fingertips pointing forward (the sides of your
thumbs should be touching).
2. Outsweep: Turn your palms slightly outward (so
your thumbs point slightly downward) and, keeping
your arms straight, sweep your arms out to your
sides until they form a “Y” shape with your body
3. Insweep: Bend your elbows and move your forearms down
and back as you pull your hands together in front of your chest in
a praying position. This is the all-important phase of the
breaststroke pull, as it serves as the power that pulls your body
forward. This is also the phase where you lift your head out of
the water to take a breath.
4. Recovery: Extend your arms forward just below
the surface to enter the glide phase, and begin the
cycle again.
Kicking Technique For Breaststroke
1. Start with your legs straight and together.
2.Bend your knees so they point out to the sides while
keeping your feet together. Your feet should come in
toward your torso.
3.Keeping your knees where they are, separate your
feet to extend your legs straight out to a diagonal, in a
“V” shape, and then quickly squeeze your legs
together to come back to the starting position. This
step should be fast and fluid.