Breaststroke depth and angle of head and arms underwater

[Tim]

Greetings, is anyone in the know as to how far approximately the head should go below the water line during the surge/shoot phase of breaststroke? Also should the arms go down at a slight angle in line with the head or straight forwards? I see some breaststrokers like Ryan Lochte going down pretty deep with their arms, perhaps to enable a better upkick towards the end of the stroke cycle…

Discussion

[Gary]

For reducing drag, the arms should be straight forward with fingers and thumb squeezed tight, or in prayer position. The chin should be touching the swimmer’s chest with no part of the occiput (back of the head) sticking above the arms. The hip should be flexed slightly to enable the hips to rise, much like Peaty does. The head goes pretty far underwater in all events but the 50, where there is just not enough time to get it down and back up.

Most important, the legs should be lifted and the feet pointed backward to finish the kick.