Backstroke and breaststroke may look completely different, but both require rhythm, timing, and precision to swim fast. At this Complete Backstroke & Breaststroke Racing Swim Camp, participants will focus on every detail that leads to faster racing—powerful starts, underwater dolphin kicking, and breakouts; efficient backstroke rotation, kick, and pull; and balanced, propulsive breaststroke timing and technique. Swimmers will also refine their turns, pullouts, and finishes to carry speed through every wall. By the end of this camp, athletes will have the skills and confidence to race both strokes with greater efficiency, endurance, and power.

Day 1 (Saturday, November 22)
• Session 1: BLOCK & BACKSTROKE STARTS, UNDERWATERS, AND BREAKOUTS: This session focuses on the fastest part of every race: the start, streamline, underwater dolphin kicking, and breakout. It’s during this sequence that elite swimmers cover the most ground with the greatest efficiency.
• Block Starts: A powerful start begins with proper setup on the block. Our elite clinicians will guide participants through full-body positioning to support quick reaction time and maximum speed. A clean, well-timed entry is essential for maintaining momentum from the start into the water. Your swimmer will work on refining their takeoff, body position in the air, and entry to ensure an explosive transition into streamline.
• Backstroke Starts: Like dive starts, backstroke starts rely on strong positioning before the start. Your swimmer will learn how to generate force off the wall without slipping and how to engage their leg drive and core for a fast, clean entry. Emphasis will be placed on body position in the air and a powerful leg kick to carry momentum into their streamline and breakout.
• Streamline: The streamline - when done properly - is the fastest a swimmer travels while in the water. Proper streamlines are even faster than underwater dolphin kicking. Even the most elite swimmers in the world are constantly working on improving their streamline. Your swimmer will get tips to improve their streamline and a better appreciation of what they need to do on every single wall in practice and in races.
• Initiating Underwater Dolphin Kicking: Top age group and elite swimmers maximize their streamline on every single lap. They don’t start their underwater dolphin kicking while they’re still achieving maximum speed in their streamline! They also don’t want to start the underwater dolphin kicking after their streamline has begun to slow. Your swimmer is going to learn how to time when to begin their underwater dolphin kicking.
• Powerful Underwater Dolphin Kicking: There are a few different techniques that swimmers use when underwater dolphin kicking. The common theme of these techniques is that the best swimmers kick up and down with equal power. We will show your swimmer the different techniques that elite swimmers use and teach them how to implement.
• Number of Underwater Dolphin Kicks: Figuring out the optimal number of kicks off each wall, for each race, is essential to fast swimming. Elite swimmers want to spend only the absolute necessary amount of time underwater to establish speed with each length. They want to avoid losing their breath and taking weak kicks.
• Breakouts: Many swimmers unintentionally add movements in their breakouts that reduce speed by creating drag. In this camp, participants will focus on perfecting their breakout timing to maintain momentum and power into each lap.
• Session 2: BACKSTROKE TECHNIQUE: While backstroke shares many concepts with freestyle, the actual skill can be much different. In this session, your swimmer will refine bodyline, rotation, kick, and pull specifically for backstroke.
• Bodyline: Backstroke bodyline should eliminate unnecessary movement. Even small amounts of bobbing or swaying create drag. Participants will learn to maintain a flat, aligned posture and engage the core to support a strong, stable position in the water.
• Rotation: Unlike freestyle, backstrokers rotate most fully onto their side when their hand is midway through the stroke. Rotation in backstroke is essential for two key reasons. First, to apply power during the pull, the swimmer’s hand must be positioned in front of the shoulder and at least a few inches below the surface of the water—something that’s only possible with proper body rotation. Second, rotation helps activate the large muscles of the back as the swimmer drives their hand through the surface and into the catch.
• Constant Motion: Unlike other strokes, backstroke has no built-in glide phase—the arms are always moving. Your swimmer will work on strategies to keep their stroke continuous and efficient, maximizing distance per stroke while maintaining tempo.
• Kicking: Effective backstroke kicking requires generating propulsion in both directions—both the forward and backwards motions. Your swimmer will learn to kick efficiently on their back, using ankle flexibility and consistent drive to support rotation and propulsion.
• Pull: Backstroke pull requires a high elbow catch, but also uses more of the full arm in the pull than any other stroke since the hand is pulls much further outside the body line. We will work on feeling that full pull and engaging the large muscles of the back to generate power.
Day 2 (Sunday, November 23)
• Session 3: BREASTSTROKE TECHNIQUE: Breaststroke is unique—no two swimmers look the same at the elite level. It’s all about reducing resistance, perfecting timing, and finding what works for each individual. We’ll build a foundation and then help each swimmer refine their style for maximum speed and efficiency. No matter your swimmer’s level, this session will strengthen their technique and lead to faster and more efficient breaststroke races… and faster IM’s!
• Bodyline: With the most drag of any stroke, breaststroke demands constant attention to body position. We’ll work on keeping the head, hips, and spine aligned and moving forward at every point in the stroke—especially during the crucial first strokes off each wall.
• Kick: A strong, powerful kick is key in breaststroke. In every breaststroke kick, the ankles should stay outside the knee. The optimal size of the kick varies by each swimmer and is highly dependent on knee and ankle flexibility. Swimmers who view themselves as “bad” at breaststroke kick often only need to focus on decreasing the size of their kick and they can unlock unknown potential.
• Pull: To have a great breaststroke pull, swimmers need to keep their elbows near the surface of the water and out in front of their shoulders at all times. Once the hands turn in and begin the “recovery” phase they need to move quickly to full extension in front of the body to reestablish bodyline. The pull pattern varies based on a swimmer’s kick. We’ll help swimmers match their pull width and tempo to their natural kick style—maximizing propulsion and efficiency.
• Timing: Elite breaststrokers are constantly tweaking their timing to achieve the ideal combination of power and efficiency. Our clinicians will introduce key drills that help connect the pull, kick, breath, and glide into a smooth, powerful cycle.
• Session 4: FLIP TURNS, OPEN TURNS, BREASTSTROKE PULLOUTS & FINISHES: Quick, powerful turns and finishes are crucial to fast times and winning close races. The top age group and elite swimmers aren't using walls just for turning around - they are used to generate speed and momentum going into the next lap. Elite swimmers are constantly working their turns and looking for areas to improve them. Today, we're going to work with your swimmer on taking this crucial part of every race (and practice) to the next level!
• FLIP TURNS: Flip turns are an opportunity for your swimmers to increase momentum in the middle of a race! Flip turns in which the athletes slow down or have “mechanical” movements negatively impact the speed at which a swimmer comes off the wall. We will work with your swimmer to produce fast flip turns so that they can explode off the walls at maximum speed.
• OPEN TURNS: Elite butterflyers and breaststrokers utilize speed from their last lap to create momentum and even more speed at the beginning of the next lap. Their open turns are actually not “turns”, but more like high-speed pivots. Participants in this session will work on these techniques to have much faster open turns!
• MOMENTUM: The fastest swimmers use walls to generate speed and momentum going into the next lap. Outside of the elite ranks, many swimmers stop or slow down while going into the wall, which kills their momentum! This is especially true in fly and breaststroke where strokes are naturally longer and both arms move together. We will work with participants on the intricacies of approaching every wall at top speed and seamlessly initiating their “turn”.
• BREASTSTROKE UNDERWATER PULLOUT: The breaststroke pullout is an important and unique part of every breaststroke race. We will work with participants on minimizing resistance in their pull-outs and establishing maximum speed. The pullout can be used strategically, depending on the distance of the race, to cover more ground before breaking out.
• BREASTSTROKE BREAKOUTS: Breaststroke breakouts are also a unique and important skill. After the pullout, swimmers need to keep their momentum going, time their rise to the surface just right, and keep their head moving forward—not up—to help bring their hips to the surface and stay in a good line.
• BUTTERFLY & BREASTSTROKE FINISHES: Setting up for a fast finish is a lot like preparing for a strong turn—it all comes down to timing and positioning. In butterfly and breaststroke, where both arms move forward simultaneously, that timing can be especially challenging. At this camp, your swimmer will learn specific techniques to make adjustments and consistently set up for a well-timed, confident finish.