The beautiful underwater breaststroke pull... it’s long... it flows... it’s relaxing... and IT CAN STOP YOU.  After thousands of breaststroke video evaluations, we’ve named the recovery of the breaststroke underwater pull as the MOST disruptive movement in the entire sport of competitive swimming.

Mostly, this means, you better be focusing on it, or it will cause you to come to a complete stop in the water.  But...  is there another option?

Why do it:
We saw another case of [**skipping the underwater pull at the SEC Championships**](https://youtu.be/Zx9hQjXIW7g?t=60) last week, and [**here’s an article from 2016**](https://swimswam.com/electricity-creativity-molly-hanniss-outside-box-path-rio/) describing another instance where it was used effectively.

Skipping the breaststroke underwater pullout can have multiple benefits, but we’ll just focus on 2.  First, you may be able to maintain better velocity.  Second, you’ll get more air.

How to do it:
1 - It’s actually very simple.  Push off the wall and do a dolphin kick like you off every other wall.
2 - Take the first pull of breaststroke and start swimming.

How to do it really well (the fine points)
If you’ve been practicing normal underwater pullouts, you’ll need to make sure you push off more shallow than you usually do.  If you go too deep, waiting to get back up to the surface will cause you to lose that momentum you’re fighting for.  Also, watch the head position.  With younger, aggressive swimmers, this shortened action may cause them to attack too quickly and lift the head.  Keep the head down until the insweep of the first stroke.

If you’re swimming a very short race, like a 50 on a relay, you may also opt to skip the breath on the turn.  You’ll be getting to air very soon anyway, so that’s just an option to work on.

This is also a massive benefit for “aging swimmers”.  Let’s say you’re a 57-year-old Masters swimmer with good underwater pulls.  Maybe you don’t (or can’t) want to go that far off every wall.  This gets you to air more quickly.

Will this work for you?  The ONLY way to determine if a non-traditional technique for swimming will work for you is to experiment.  Have your coach time you to a point, and try both ways... over and over again.  Balance that out with the addition strokes you’ll take, and the additional breath you’ll get.  

Also factor in the pause, loss of momentum, or stopping that may occur in your own underwater pullout.  Getting back up to speed also takes energy.

There is no easy answer, but at least there are now more options.

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Breaststroke - No Underwater Pullout