Why do most masters swimmers hate breaststroke?

I aged up this year. While looking through my LMSC's SCM records, I discovered that there is one open record in my age group: the 200 ***. Now, I am a slow swimmer and normally would have no chance whatsoever of setting an LMSC record. But I can't go wrong here! All I have to do is finish the race without getting DQ'd, and the record is MINE! ALL MINE! BWAHAHAHAHA! We have two SCM meets coming up, so I have plenty of opportunity. As long as no one else in my age group swims it. Anna Lea

I used to love to watch a beautiful girl swimmer who swam for the Etobicoke Swim Club she was a breaststroker. I even dated her, I guess this means I really do not hate breaststroke. No, it just means you do not hate breaststrokers. Especially one in particular.

The word hate should not be used. It is dangerous to say hate. It could lead to dire consequences.

In honor of this thread, I have started to add some more *** to my workouts. Not a lot mind you, but more than before.

In Europe breaststroke is the first stroke taught, they seem to love the stroke more. I still have visions of practice in Paris, where the women swim breaststroke topless:applaud: Another vision of a swim meet where a woman got in, swam with her hair made up, and never got her hair wet. Amazing swim. I am like Allen, when swimming *** correctly it is so niiiice. And breaststrokers love that quiet time during the underwater pulldown. Just you and the water, trying to go as far and as long as possible. Remember, using todays rules you can truly pull, kick and glide, each and every stroke.

I think the women in Europe swim the breastroke to keep their eyes out of the chlorine full pool. Here are a few rules in the hotel spas: when in the sauna be it steam or just heat, go naked (boys, girls, men, ladies), when in the swimming pool, put on your bathing trunks and ladies put on your full attire, no topless, it is considered non hygienic and in poor taste. If you wear your swimming whatever into the sauna you will be seen as the true foreigner that you are. Take my word for it, got back a week ago. billy (naked in the sauna) fanstone. P.S. I didn't take my gear so I purchased some cheapo swedes for 5 euros and solved my problem in swimming some short laps, and also will use them here for a quick 50 meters tomorrow when I hope they don't come off my face. Most of the time I go without eye protection cause I dive in the old style, on my belly.

I find myself much more competitive in breaststroke today (age 48) than I was as a high school swimmer. It is one of the great mysteries for me. I swam breastroke in high school only as part of my IM. I never raced breaststroke back then. But as many have pointed out - my kick is strong and I suppose natural to me. Timing is an ongoing adventure - and I am probably more flat than wave today. My experience now is that my breaststroke speed comes and goes. Breaststroke is way technical - and small flaws (or improvements) can create big changes in performance. Nothing to me is worse than backstroke. My *** is almost as fast as my backstroke. I don't swim straight in backstroke and it has no relaxation value at all.

Billy- I think if Speedo guy came into the sauna sans speedo, customs would change awfully quickly...

my vote on my personal dislike - it tires me out because i have to breathe so darn much! yeah, yeah, i know your head just has to break the surface of the water every cycle and you don't have to actually exhale and inhale... but lordy, if somehow I don't end up breathing every stroke and end up feeling like the the poor horse below upon completion of a breaststroke length :dedhorse: This is definitely part of my problem, the breathing absolutely kills me ...

I was OK at breaststroke as a youngster but a knee injury pretty much wiped it out. The nerve damage makes it so I can't totally feel what that leg is doing and the scar tissue keeps it from bending much; plus the hamstrings that were harvested for spare repair parts mean I have no strength. It hurts and I rarely go more than about 10 yards w/ the correct kick, although I'll slog through it for an IM in a meet, rarely. But the stroke is defective anyhow. It's too easy to be a hurry-up-go-slower stroke. The kick is dangerous kicking other people and the wall. There is that weird pocket of turbulence over the lower back. It can be ugly to watch even fast swimmers that look like inchworms thrashing across the pool In practice the slow underwater recovery just makes me want to switch over to butterfly. I have to say when Amanda Beard and Brendan Hansen swim breaststroke I think it's beautiful ...