World champion kitajima breaststroke analysis

Hi all ,

This breaststroker from Japan has always been my idol. He is one of the few asians in history that has ever held a swimming world record. His name is Kitajima Kousuke . He is only 178cm tall and weights 71 kg , well below the average of a professional swimmer's physique , yet he managed to do a double double ( Gold Medallist for 2004 and 2008 for 100m and 200m breasstroke )


Here is a video of him breaking the 200m world record back in 200m . This is the top view of his competition




.. and this is the underwater view



Analysis

50 m mark - 28.91 - 28.91 ( 1st 50m ) - 14 strokes - 7.44s per 5 strokes
100 m mark - 1:01.27 - 32.36 ( 2nd 50m ) - 14 strokes - 8.95s per 5 strokes
150 m mark - 1:34.24 - 32.97 ( 3rd 50m ) - 15 strokes - 8.84s per 5 strokes
200 m mark - 2:07:51 - 33.27 ( last 50m ) - 18 strokes - 7.16s per 5 strokes

What the data meant

- First 50m is the fastest in terms of time
- You can see lactic acid building up by the slowing of each subsequent 50m time
- The last 50m has the highest stroke rate and the slowest time (Max lactic build up)
- His best 50m probably is the 2nd 50m , glides the longest but achieves a fast time , disregarding the first 50m because he started off the blocks.


My comment
- His kick is absolutely amazing , he glides so far with his powerful kick , he can actually lengthen his stroke length without compromising on time . If you check out the underwater video , his kick is actually a "whip" , the recovery is small ( to cut down on resistance ) and the kick is strong and control.
- His breaststroke is extremely streamlined and controlled . His pull is strong and he managed to thrust forward after each pull. The trick here I think is to arch your back and spring forward with your hip ( much like a dolphin kick motion)
- Keep his head down while gliding ( very important to cut resistance )

Anyway , the video below shows a 200m breasstroke competition at a provincial level
This video gives a good picture how fast a professional swimmer(kitajima) is compared to a provincial level swimmer. Bear in mind that the swimmer in this video is also actually very fast already !!



Jon's analysis
2nd 50 m - 36.51 s - 20 strokes - 7.78 per 5 strokes ( kitajima 14 strokes)
3rd 50 m - 36.94 s - 22 strokes - 6.92 per 5 strokes ( kitajima 15 strokes)
last 50 m - 37.42 s - 26 strokes - 5.91 per 5 strokes ( kitajima 18 strokes)

wow look at the stroke rate difference per 50m ! Kitajima is swimming more efficienly than the swimmer above and with a faster time too !

So conclusion is , stroke length is more important than stroke rate ! and also you need to find you ideal stroke length vs stroke rate time !