曾經有一段時間我和我的俱樂部團隊一起教授游泳。由於動作與其他三種泳姿的差異，蛙泳始終是最難教。自由泳和仰泳基本上是相同的泳姿，除了自由泳是趴著游，仰泳是躺著游。蝶泳的簡單描述是手臂和腿同時動作的一種泳姿。而蛙泳是完全不同的。
蛙泳已經存在很長一段時間，其起源可以追溯到石器時代。甚至還發現了一個埃及洞穴，被人們親切地稱為「游泳洞穴」，牆壁上有繪畫，人們正在游蛙泳。
由於動作的時機，蛙泳是四種泳姿中最慢的。然而，觀看Lilly King，皮蒂以及頂級蛙泳選手的最新成員德雷塞爾的比賽仍然具有相當的競爭力和樂趣。然而，它確實需要力量和耐力，以便在每個划水周期中恢復速度。
蛙泳的手臂動作很容易掌握。我曾經告訴我的游泳運動員「舀出巧克力，吃掉，吐出包裝」，以便讓他們理解這個概念。你伸出你的雙手形成一個「Y」，然後將你的手向後掃到你的身體，然後向前射出你的手。
具有挑戰性的部分是打腿，因為它不自然，需要臀部和腳踝的靈活性。雙腳向外向上抬起，然後向外掃，將雙腳在身後並在一起，腳趾朝後。
對於蛙泳來說有細節或節奏之分，每個游泳運動員在游泳時的動作都會有點不同。作為一名年輕的游泳運動員，掌握這個時機可能具有挑戰性，但是可以通過觀看經驗豐富的頂級游泳運動員會展示不同的方式來學習。有些人選擇了像波莉漢尼斯這樣的「波浪式」技術，像蝶泳一樣的身體運動。其他人選擇更直接和向前的動作，如凱蒂梅麗。
第一次蛙泳比賽是在1904年的聖路易斯奧運會。只有一場比賽，為男子440碼蛙泳。四年後，男子200米蛙泳比賽出現。直到1924年巴黎奧運會上，女性才被允許參加蛙泳比賽。自1968年墨西哥城奧運會以來，100米和200米均有男女比賽。
David Armbruster在1928年做了一項研究，他發現蛙泳回臂如果是在水面上會比在水下更快。在20世紀30年代，游泳運動員在比賽中使用了這種技術。他們開始打蛙泳腿，使用蝶泳移臂。1952年，這個泳姿分為蝶泳和蛙泳，因為這種組合違反了規則。
未來幾年會有更多的規則變化。國際泳聯在20世紀60年代制定了一條規則，要求蛙泳運動員的手臂不能超過臀部，除了出發時的第一次划水，和轉身後的第一次划水。
1987年，游泳運動員不再需要將頭保持在水面之上。游泳者必須在每個划水周期中出水面，但是可以將他們的頭部放回水裡形成流線型以便更快地向前運動。將頭部保持在水面之上的前規則影響了選拔蛙泳選手的體型和大小標準。這些蛙泳選手要麼必須是輕型的，這樣可以漂浮並保持在水面之上或足夠強壯以在比賽中向前推進。
在20世紀90年代，當選手移臂時，他們開始將手放在水面上。只要肘部沒有出水面，就可以是允許的。
直到2004-2005，國際泳聯才決定支持在出發和轉身後可以打一次海豚腿。這是由於在2004年雅典奧運會期間，北島康介在100米蛙泳決賽出發和轉身後打了一次海豚腿之後引發的爭議。在水面上看不到打腿，這意味著裁判不能取消他的資格。
海豚腿規則一直有爭議，因為有水下錄像帶顯示南非的Cameron Van Der Burgh在倫敦舉行的100米蛙泳決賽中出發後打了三次海豚腿。他甚至在比賽結束後接受採訪時承認這樣做。
十年後，海豚腿規則被調整。這一改變將允許在蛙泳打腿前的任何一點打海豚腿。舊規則規定雙手在海豚腿之前要分開。沒有規則規定長劃是必須的。一些教練可能讓他們的游泳運動員在400米混合泳這樣的較長比賽中跳過長劃，特別是如果他們不擅長蛙泳。
蛙泳可能對比賽中的技術有很多嚴格的規定，比如雙手觸壁，但它是唯一不需要游泳者在15米標記處出水的泳姿。
The Evolution of Breaststroke
By Meaghan Raab, Swimming World College Intern.
There was time when I used to teach swimming through a program with my club team. Breaststroke was always the hardest stroke to teach the kids because of the differences in the stroke from the other three strokes. Freestyle and backstroke are essentially the same stroke, with the exception of freestyle swum on the stomach and backstroke swum on the back. The simple description of butterfly is both arms and legs at the same time. Breaststroke is completely different.
Breaststroke has been around for a long time with the origin tracing back to the Stone Age. There was even an Egyptian cave found, affectionately known as 「The Cave of Swimmers」, which has paintings on the wall with people that are swimming breaststroke.
Breaststroke is the slowest of the four strokes due to the timing of the stroke. However, it is still quite competitive and fun to watch with big names like Lilly King, Adam Peaty, and the newest member of the elite breaststroke group Caeleb Dressel. It does however requires strength and stamina in order to get back up to speed with each stroke cycle.
The arm motion of the stroke is simple enough to master. I used to tell my swimmers to 「scoop the Hershey』s kisses, eat the kisses, and spit the wrappers out」 in order to get them to understand the concept. You skull your hands out forming a 「Y」, then sweep your hands back in toward your body, and then shoot your hands forward.
The challenging part is the kick, because it is unnatural and requires flexibility in the hips and ankles. Lift your feet up towards your butt with feet turned outwards, then sweep outward and bring them back together behind your body with feet together and toes pointed.
There is a sort of finesse or rhythm to breaststroke where each swimmer is a little bit different when swimming the stroke. This timing can be challenging to master as a young swimmer, but watching the experienced and elite swimmers showcases the different ways of swimming the stroke. Some people choose a more 「wave-like」 technique with undulation like Molly Hannis, or movement of the body similar to that of butterfly. Others choose a more straight and forward motion, like Katie Meili.
The first breaststroke race was in the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis. There was only one race, the 440-yard breaststroke for men. Four years later, the men』s 200-meter breaststroke was contested. It wasn』t until 1924 at the Olympics in Paris that the women were able to swim a breaststroke event. Since the 1968 Games in Mexico City, the 100-meter and 200-meter have been contested for men and women.
David Armbruster did a study in 1928 where he found that performing the recovery part of the stroke is faster over the top of the water than underneath the surface. In the 1930s, swimmers used this technique in competition. They started swimming a breaststroke kick and what would be known as normal butterfly arms. In 1952, the combined stroke split into butterfly and breaststroke because the combination violated the rules created.
There would be more rule changes in the coming years. FINA created a rule in the 1960s making sure that the swimmers』 arms did not go past the hips, except for the first stroke out of the start, the turns and in the pullout.
The year 1987 brought a rule that swimmers no longer needed to keep their heads above the water. The swimmers must break the surface of the water on each stroke cycle, but put their head back into streamline for a faster forward motion. The former rule about keeping your head above the water affected the shape and size of people who could swim breaststroke. These swimmers either needed to be light so they could float and stay above the water or strong enough to push themselves forward in the race.
In the 1990s the swimmers began to throw their hands over the surface of the water as they recovered. This was determined to be allowable as long as the elbows didn』t break the surface of the water.
It wasn』t until 2004-2005 that FINA decided to rule in favor of doing one dolphin kick at the start and off of each wall in the pullout. This came after the controversy that arose after Kosuke Kitajima did a single dolphin kick off the start and turn in the final of the 100-meter breaststroke in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The kicks were not visible above the water which meant that the officials could not disqualify him, as the benefit of the doubt goes to the swimmer in instances of uncertainty.
The dolphin kick rule has not been without controversy as there was underwater video footage that showed Cameron Van Der Burgh of South Africa doing three dolphin kicks off the start in his gold-medal race of the 100 breast in London. He even admitted to doing so in an interview after the race.
Ten years later the dolphin kick rule was tweaked. This change would allow for the dolphin kick to happen at any point before the breaststroke kick. The old rule mandated the hands to separate before the dolphin kick. There is no rule that states that a pullout is necessary. Some coaches may have their swimmers skip the pullout in longer events like the 400 IM, particularly if they are not breaststrokers.
Breaststroke may have a lot of strict rules about the technique and completion of the stroke in the races, such as two-hand touch, but it is the only stroke that does not require the swimmer to break the surface at the 15-meter marker.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
翻譯來自全浸游泳大熊
