You do a breakout! Breakouts, are also used after a start.
Shared Steps for Surfacing or Breakouts
Each stroke has its breakout or transition - and not all coaches believe in the same ones. But whether you are swimming for fitness or racing for the gold medal, there are a few things to remember:- Streamline - make your body as long and thin as possible.
- Think pencil, torpedo, submarine, or rocket as you push off the wall.
- Place your hands one on top of the other, palm of the top hand on the back of the lower hand.
- Stretch your arms with fingers pointing the way you want to go.
- Squeeze your head between your arms (with your arms either near your ears or behind your head - one of those coaching differences).
- Feel your body extend and stretch from the tip of your extended fingers, down your arms, shoulders, back, hips, legs, and toes.
- Submerge - push off underwater to get under the turbulence at the wall and to avoid creating more that could slow you down.
- Leave the wall on your side or back, with enough rotation so you are legal (towards your back for backstroke, towards your chest for the other strokes). You will complete your rotation after pushing off of the wall.
- Push off with a slightly downward orientation - deeper for breaststroke.
- The "depth sequence" is push off down, then level off, then up.
In breaststroke races, you are allowed to complete one "pullout" underwater, regardless of how far you travel - but your head must break the surface of the water before you complete your next arm stroke. Hold the streamline until just before you begin slowing to the speed of the next step - you have to figure this out in practice. It is better to begin the next step too soon - when you are still moving fast - than to wait too long - when you have lost too much speed. Breaststroke usually has the longest period of time before the streamline is disturbed and begins with a pull accompanied by a single dolphin kick. Backstroke, freestyle, and butterfly begin with the legs - all three use a modified, waist down, dolphin kick while the upper body streamlines.
The Specifics
Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, also have unique steps. The individual medley, since it includes all four strokes, uses some combination of everything, depending on the length of the event and the pool. We'll look at the specifics for each stroke on the following pages.When doing breakouts, use the speed you gained off of the wall to your advantage. It can help you make significant gains in performance, allows for a short amount of muscle recovery (at least some of them), and it feels great to flow from the turn into your stroke.
More on Swimming Turns:
- Swim Turns, Part 1 - Open Turns
- Swim Turns, Part 2 - More Open Turns
- Swim Turns, Part 3 - Breakouts or Surfacing
- Swim Turns, Part 4 - Freestyle Flip Turn Basics
- Swim Turns, Part 5 - More on Freestyle Flip Turns
- Swim Turns, Part 6 - Backstroke Flip Turn Basics
Swim On!
