The recent Butterfly rules interpretation - recovery of the arms got me wondering if you swim the style of breaststroke where you recover your arms above the water (except your elbows) is legal butterfly, if only for masters where the breaststroke kick is allowed. The rules don't specify that you have to recover the arms out to the side so as long as you recover your arms high enough it should be legal?
From my reading legal breaststroke would not be legal butterfly because the elbows never break the surface,neither the top nor the bottom of the elbows.It does raise the question:if you swim "breaststroke" with an exaggerated back arch like Amanda Beard and then get both arms completely out of the water ,is it legal?
That's not quite true. For legal breaststroke, your elbows must merely be in contact with the water (they need not be fully submerged), except on the last stroke before the finish or turn, when they can be fully out of the water:
The elbows must stay “wet” (in contact with the froth and foam and not completely out of the water) during the recovery phase of the arm pull throughout the race except at the turn and at the finish. However, it’s OK if the elbows clear the water during the pullback part of the stroke. (Oct 2006 ed, page 26)
I'm not sure if the "whole" elbow needs to be in contact, or if just a piece of it can be in contact with the water, but in the absence of a better interpretation, the benefit of the doubt means that any piece of the elbow being in contact means the elbow is under the water surface (as far as breaststroke is concerned).
Patrick King
From my reading legal breaststroke would not be legal butterfly because the elbows never break the surface,neither the top nor the bottom of the elbows.It does raise the question:if you swim "breaststroke" with an exaggerated back arch like Amanda Beard and then get both arms completely out of the water ,is it legal?
That's not quite true. For legal breaststroke, your elbows must merely be in contact with the water (they need not be fully submerged), except on the last stroke before the finish or turn, when they can be fully out of the water:
The elbows must stay “wet” (in contact with the froth and foam and not completely out of the water) during the recovery phase of the arm pull throughout the race except at the turn and at the finish. However, it’s OK if the elbows clear the water during the pullback part of the stroke. (Oct 2006 ed, page 26)
I'm not sure if the "whole" elbow needs to be in contact, or if just a piece of it can be in contact with the water, but in the absence of a better interpretation, the benefit of the doubt means that any piece of the elbow being in contact means the elbow is under the water surface (as far as breaststroke is concerned).
Patrick King
