Freestyle - Bruno Fratus

Important Note to the Viewer

LESSONS: 23 VIDEOS

Trailing Hand Throw

To complete working on the entire arm cycle, Bruno now focuses on initiating the recovery. To set this up, Bruno likes to use fins and a snorkel so he can remove the distractions and focus his energy on the recovering arm. To initiate this action, he starts with one hand out front and the other down by his side. He sculls the lead arm a few times to set up his balance and connection, then sneaks the recovery hand up to about halfway along his side. Then he accelerates the recovery hand out of the water and throws it into the recovery. At the same time the recovery starts, the lead hand presses down into the catch. This dual action lunges Bruno forward to his other side. After throwing the hand forward, he ends in extension on the other side and starts to initiate some sculling with that hand. He takes a half finish pull with the recovery hand to get the feeling of the timing. He then repeats the entire action with the other hand. This specific drill allows Bruno to focus on and understand the connection between the hand that’s exiting the water, as well as how it impacts how the next catch is made. As in the other drills, the kick intensity picks up during the recovery action.

Freestyle - Throw Recovery

To further work on the attack of the recovery, Bruno has a version of single-arm freestyle that focuses on throwing the arm into the recovery and into extension. To set up this drill, he puts on a snorkel and fins. Just as in the previous drill, when he’s getting ready to attack the pull and recovery, he increases the kick intensity to give him more velocity. When Bruno starts to initiate a powerful pull, he focuses on driving the extended hand forward. As the pulling hand finishes, he sends it directly into a high, straight arm, overhead recovery. This recovery is BIG! It’s not just a recovery, he’s throwing the hand as high and as far forward as possible. At the same time that the big recovery starts, the extended hand is driven down into the catch. This crossbody connection continues to build a fully integrated unit in which one side helps to power the other. As the recovering arm lands in extension, Bruno pauses and studies the line he has thrown the arm into. He pays attention to the direction forward, isolating the forward attack and rotation of the body. When he moves this forward to full sprinting, he won’t have time to analyze the direction, so he breaks it down with this small step. Bruno likes to work on one side at a time, so he’ll return the non-recovering hand to extension underwater, along his side, to get ready for the next throw recovery.

Dog Dig Stroke

Building on the last drill of Dog Dig, where Bruno focuses on quick hands into the catch, this step in the progression adds a single full stroke to the mix. Start with a cycle of Dog Dig, then on the next move of the hand, take a full pull and recover back to extension. After another couple of cycles of Dog Dig, perform a full stroke and recover with the other arm. Alternate arms through the length. Now the subtle actions that Bruno focuses on during this drill. First, when Bruno initiates the full stroke, his focus switches to the lead hand, pushing, or extending it forward. When he pulls with one hand, the extended hand is driven forward. During the recovery of the full stroke arm, as the recovery reaches its peak, Bruno drives the extended arm down into the catch. This helps him isolate the cross body action of his powerful pull. He doesn’t finish the pull as the body initially rotates and with his quick catch. This helps him continue to isolate that first movement of the recovering arm connecting to the pulling arm. You’ll also notice that as he gets ready to recover the arm, the kick picks up to help him gain more speed into the recovery and quick catch.

Dog Dig - Bruno

In this drill, Bruno tries to isolate the initial catch for his freestyle. He likes to use a snorkel to allow him to focus on the hands and catch without having to worry about disrupting his body line to get a breath. He also likes to use fins to help him maintain some momentum without overworking the arms or legs. When Bruno does this drill, there is very little outsweep with the hands but rather a very direct and straight path to the catch. It will appear narrow, but this helps him focus on keeping his elbow up. There is a very quick insweep of the hand, and he doesn’t worry that his hands cross over underneath. The focus of the drill is the initial catch, not an underwater recovery. Bruno starts the drill slowly, focusing on the feel of his hands. Then he builds to a more aggressive rate to keep his focus on his goal of achieving ultimate speed.

Start - Underwater Dolphins

When Bruno practices the underwater dolphin portion of his starts, first he goes slow and builds the feeling he wants to maintain when going fast. Think of doing these in slow motion at first. Notice a couple very small differences between slow and fast. When he goes a bit slower, after he enters the water, he allows his body to glide a bit more. Think about how he worked on this in the last video when he practices diving in and gliding. He enters the water and reaches his best body line before initiating the kick. When he’s going fast, he reaches that same line, only a bit shallower. This means he’s not going to have to wait as long to initiate his first kick. When Bruno is practicing the movements a bit more slowly, you’ll see that his underwater dolphin kick is a bit larger. This helps him identify where the power is being generated from. When he speeds things up, the amplitude or height of the dolphin becomes smaller... which he hopes makes it quicker. Whether Bruno is going slower or faster, you can also see how stable his head is as he initiates his dolphin kicks. He focuses on driving the head and core of his body forward. When he’s going a bit slower, it gives him just a little more time to focus on the kick. He adds a kick or two to give him more opportunity to feel all the details of his kick. When he increases the tempo, he’ll only take three kicks prior to the transition from dolphin to flutter. On his fast breakouts, he makes sure his head stays down and he approaches the surface of the water in as parallel body position as possible. Again, forward becomes more important that exploding upward.

Freestyle - Flip Turn

Bruno's flip turns are all about momentum and tucking the head to initiate the spin. Thinking of using the still water that's sitting in front of him, but tucking the chin into the water with his momentum, the spin starts immediately. Also being very careful not to pop up prior to the chin tuck. Bruno focuses on shortening the path of the turn, making all actions purposeful. Approaching the wall at a slower speed, he never lifts his eyes but keeps them focused on the bottom of the pool. He uses the lines and markers on the bottom, as well as the lower part of the wall to sight his turn. Bruno continues his arm stroke until the very last minute, never gliding into the wall. He follows the last stroke down into the tuck and quickly gets that last stroke hand down by his hips. He turns the palms down toward the bottom and pushes the water toward his shoulders to help throw the legs over more quickly. The tuck is as tight as he can make it. Bruno's thighs touch his torso and chest. He knows the tighter he gets his body, the faster the turn will be. The feet are planted in-line with his hands, torso, and hips so he can stack all of his push-off power into a direct line off the wall. He plants his feet straight up, wasting no time in a spin during the flip, but starts to torque his body around during the push off. The streamline is extremely tight on the top and he's pointing his toes as he leaves the wall. When Bruno is going at full speed, there may be a slight rise of the eyes a couple strokes out. We have to realize that there are only a few people that approach the wall THIS fast, so the quick double check on the distance to the wall gives him more reassurance of where to initiate the head tuck. He follows the last stroke hand into the flip, plants his feet and drives off. When he's sprinting, the dolphin kick is initiated very quickly into the push so he can maintain as much speed as possible. Sprinters don't push off too deep, after just a couple quick dolphin kicks, Bruno needs to get up and attack. His pushoffs are pretty shallow but very aggressive.

Bruno - Freestyle - Head On

In this series of clips, we'll watch Bruno from head-on. Bruno starts very slowly, and we see his attention to detail at the front of the stroke. The lead arm is aimed directly forward, piercing the water with nearly his entire body hidden behind the hand. The rotation is extreme, getting his body completely on its side. Bruno is focusing on reaching the longest line possible and balancing his body as it becomes as small as possible on his side. Above water, Bruno has a relaxed recovery with slight bends in his elbows. Bruno's pull initiates in a very straight arm fashion. This is more common in world class sprinters, and something to step towards very slowly. It takes years of training both in the water and out of the water to build up the muscles to be able to do this without injury. Bruno picks up the pace just a bit, while still focusing on huge rotation and exaggerated extension. Again, he initiates the catch with a bit more straight arm, which also starts to give him a bit of lift to keep him higher in the water. Above water, the arm is still relaxed with a slight bend in the elbow. At top speed, Bruno has less rotation but still reaches a complete extension on both sides. The arms spend a little less time in the straight line, as he catches the water as quickly as possible, thinking of getting on top of the elbow for a bit earlier power. His arms remain relatively straight through the arm-pull, giving him greater hand speed. We can see the effort that he puts into reaching full extension on each stroke, almost like he's grasping for as much water as possible. From above water, we now see that Bruno throws his arms from the finish of each stroke to the start of the next. By throwing the hand, this also creates a faster rotation of the body. Bruno tries to recover with so much force that the act of the hand hitting the water helps to drive his body forward.

Freestyle - Hips - Bruno

Focus just on Bruno’s hips in this clip. Even when swimming slowly, Bruno keeps his hips RIGHT on the surface. And it’s not just Bruno’s suit that’s at the surface, it’s the SIDES of the suit – Bruno’s HIPS – that are at the surface. Bruno’s hips are constantly engaged with the surface of the water. As he rotates, we see one hip scrape the surface…then the other. Bruno’s high hips are just one part of his picture-perfect bodyline. If we freeze-frame right here, we can see that Bruno’s horizontal bodyline extends from his fingertips…along his forearm…through the armpit…and all the way through his torso and hips. This balanced bodyline is absolutely necessary when Bruno wants to reach his top speed.

Freestyle - Head and Breath

When we zoom in on Bruno’s head, the first thing we notice is the QUICKNESS of his breath. Taking a quick breath is highly advantageous for ultra-high speed swimming. A sprinter’s turnover is so high that they MUST take a quick breath to maintain their rhythm and cadence. So, to prepare for high-speed swimming, Bruno practices taking a quick breath even when swimming at slow speeds. When he picks up his rate, the quick breath will be instinct. For Bruno, taking a quick breath is not just about turning the head quickly TO air. It’s also about RETURNING the head quickly to its eyes-down position. Again, he practices this quick TURN and RE-TURN at slow speeds, so that the quickness will be there at race pace. At slow speeds, Bruno’s head rises a bit into the breath, but this will mostly disappear at race pace. The important thing to notice is not the rise, but the fact that Bruno has what’s known as a “delayed” breath. Usually, this is something a coach might try to fix. But in Bruno’s case the delayed breath, because it’s so quick, is an asset. The delay allows him to maintain a horizontal body line for an additional fraction of a second. And the quickness of the breath will enable him to get back quickly to the horizontal body line. It helps him bring the recovering arm into extension just a bit quicker and more completely. When he’s not breathing, Bruno works on keeping the head in a comfortable position that stabilizes his body and helps him lock into full extension and an immediate catch. One last thing to notice is Bruno’s continuous exhale. This means he will be ready for a quick INHALE when the head is turned.

Freestyle - Hands - Bruno

Focus just on Bruno’s hands and forearms in this clip. Notice that Bruno’s fingertips are always driving forward, giving the impression that he’s FLYING into and through the extension forward. From under the surface, notice that Bruno holds his fingers fairly close together, but there’s no tension in Bruno’s hands. He maintains a rigid alignment from the palm through the wrist and along the forearm. Notice that the bubbles fall off his hands – especially his left hand – and that he finds clean, solid water on each catch. Bruno seems to have a “feel” for when his palms and forearms are perfectly horizontal. By rotating his body, that horizontal line extends through the armpit and along the torso. Again, he seems to be sailing through the water. Keeping the head low and stable only adds to his forward momentum. The integrity of Bruno’s front-end extension is the key reason he’s reached the pinnacle of the sport. Try to channel Bruno’s hands and forearms when you head into your next freestyle set.

Freestyle - Full Body - Bruno

When we look at all the parts of Bruno’s stroke, from fingertips to toes, several things stand out. His head is low. His body rides high on the water. His hips are visible with each rotation of the torso and core. But what REALLY catches our eye is Bruno’s singular focus on driving each hand into full extension…on every single stroke. When Bruno swims slowly, this extension is all he thinks about. And it’s all he NEEDS to think about because it causes his body to rotate, it helps him achieve a horizontal body line, and lets him move forward with minimal effort from the kick and pull. When Bruno picks up the pace, the legs become more active and engaged. But Bruno is still focused intently on driving his fingertips forward. When we freeze-frame at the point of maximum extension, Bruno’s line is beautiful. The line from fingertips to armpit is perfectly level and horizontal. This line extends through the hips and legs all the way to the feet. Bruno seems to have developed a heightened feel for this position and he gets to it as quickly as he can on every arm stroke. Being level like this helps him “sail” through the water. By extending fully out front, the rest of his body levels out and he gets out of his own way. At this increased pace, notice that Bruno’s head is still low and that his hips ride high in the water. At sub-race pace, he works on staying as long and level as possible. While he will breathe very little in a 50-meter race, he works on having a low, efficient breath for his 100-meter races.

Slow to Fast

At the 2012 London Olympics, Bruno Fratus placed 4th in the 50 free with a time of 21.61. In 2017, he swam a lifetime best of 21.27. At top speed, this is what Bruno’s stroke looks like. So, for Bruno, the question is: How do you train for this kind of stroke rate, intensity, and speed…without breaking down? How do you make sure that, on race day, THIS will be there (great hand/arm extension)… and this (horizontal body line)…and this (explosive kick)? The answer is that Bruno trains like THIS. He spends most of his time training at slower-than-race pace, but with super-intense focus on the fine points of technique. Each lesson in this course will focus on a different aspect of Bruno’s technique: what he does with his hands and arms…his breathing…his hips and torso…his legs and feet. In this video clip, Bruno swims four 25s – slow to fast. Watch for how his stroke changes, but also watch for what doesn’t change. Watch for the variations in what he does from slow to fast…and watch for the consistent aspects of his stroke. At the slowest speed, Bruno’s freestyle has a relaxed quality, and he swims with a bent-elbow recovery. From underwater, it’s clear that Bruno’s key focus is extension of the hands and arms. Notice how he drives them directly forward and keeps the head stable. This creates a horizontal body line, allowing the legs to relax. As Bruno picks up the pace, he immediately starts to engage the legs a bit more into the breakout, to help him get up to speed. He still swims with a bent-elbow recovery. What also stays the same is his INTENSE focus on driving the arms and fingertips FORWARD. He also maintains a stable head position. With such a clean line up front – and with a stable core -- the legs can relax again as he completes the length. Picking up the pace, even more, Bruno’s stroke RATE begins to increase, and he changes to an almost straight-arm recovery. The kick stays engaged a bit longer after the breakout. But what stays constant is the extension out front and the stable head. Bruno’s primary focus is on DRIVING the fingertips forward. This creates a horizontal body line, which allows the legs to relax a bit. At top speed, Bruno’s legs are FULLY engaged with a very fast, consistent kick, and he uses a straight-arm recovery, which allows him to achieve a higher stroke RATE. But look at what’s still there. Even at top speed, and at a stroke rate that few swimmers can attain, Bruno STILL achieves full extension out front. He doesn’t hold on to the extension, but he gets there on every stroke. He lets the hand drop immediately into the catch so that he can achieve a high stroke rate. What else is still there? Bruno’s head is stable and centered. For such a short swim, at the speed Bruno is going, there’s no need for him to breathe. His focus isn’t on hypoxic but, rather, on ultimate speed. As you watch the rest of the lessons in this course, keep in mind that Bruno is swimming much slower than race pace, but that he’s practicing the technique he wants to be ROCK SOLID when he steps on the blocks.