Breaststroke part 2

Kosuke Kitajima was the best male breaststroker in the world when he was competing. This is a great underwater video and you can clearly see how he did it.

Watch the video 5 times.
1. Watch his kick. It's not that wide but it snaps powerfully.
2. Watch his pull. It's bigger than Meilutytė's, but his hands do not ever go behind his shoulders. Observe how quickly he pushes his hands forward after the pull - no pause under his body.
3. Look at his body and how he uses it to generate power and momentum in the stroke. It almost looks like he's doing butterfly.
4. Pay attention to his head position during the glide. Even though this is a sprint, he glides visibly after every kick with his head down.
5. Watch and try to feel the rhythm of the stroke as you watch.

This is also a good video for observing pull-outs and open turns. Notice how he does not pull himself up out of the water on the turn. He just touches and then with lightning speed reverses direction and pushes off the wall.

Unfortunately, Kosuke Kitajima is also famous for screaming wildly after he won his races in the Olympics. In my opinion, this kind of behavior is unnecessary. It brings to mind a great quote from Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach: "When you get into the endzone, act like you've been there before."