Breaststroke underwater pullout sequence

The underwater pullout sequence is a great equalizer of breastsroke races and it's used during the breaststroke send away (breast start, breast to breast turn and back to breast turn in IM). Even poor breaststrokers who streamline well, have a strong butterfly pull and kick, and can fake a single compact breaststroke kick can compete on the walls with the fastest swimmers, and they will have eight to nine fewer meters to swim.

The rules are important here. While underwater, swimmers are allowed one pull past their hips (essentially a butterfly pull), one dolphin kick that is taken after the pull has begun, and one breaststroke kick. Before the underwater pull is taken, the shoulders and hips must be horizontal. Many swimmers are disqualified because they rush to pull before they have flattened out to horizontal. Also, the swimmer's head must break the surface before the arms begin the insweep of the second pull. Here again, swimmers are disqualified for staying too deep and starting their second pull while still submerged.

Keep in mind the following key points to master the underwater pullout sequence:

• Explode. When the feet are planted to push off the wall, the body should be a straight line from the rear to the fingertips; it is a taut body that will be immediately streamlined. The push off is powerful and explosive.
• Glide. The swimmers holds a tight streamline for a count of two.
• Power pull and dolphin. Swimmers take one strong butterfly pull and one short, quick dolphin kick. Some top swimmers dolphin at the beginning of the pull, and others dolphin at the end of the pull. The jury is still out on which is more effective. More important is how the kick is performed. The dolphin kick should be small, fast, and powerful, sending the body forward. At its completion, the body should be straight, streamlined, and horizontal. 
• Glide again. If the swimmers pulled and dolphin-kicked effectively, s/he may now glide, with a perfect streamline, for a count of one.
• Sneak both recoveries. Hands and feet recover simultaneously. The swimmer sneaks the hands up close to the body and sneaks the heels to the rear while keeping the knees still. The hands have twice as far to travel as the feet, so the feet will recover first and be positioned to kick.
• Kick into the breakout. The swimmer kicks backward while reaching with the hands to a full stretch forward and driving into the first stroke at the surface. Swimmers can establish their stroke rhythm immediately by making the breakout stroke powerful and forward. Most swimmers follow a sloppy underwater pullout with a weak breakout, and it takes them several strokes before they are in rhythm.

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