(ひらおよ)

ひらおよぎ
noun
breaststroke
1. breaststroke
A swimming stroke performed face-down with simultaneous arm movements that pull water toward the chest and a frog-like kick. The slowest of the four competitive strokes but efficient for recreational swimming.
平泳(ひらおよ)ぎは初心者(しょしんしゃ)でも(およ)ぎやすい。
Breaststroke is easy to swim even for beginners.
平泳(ひらおよ)ぎで100メートルを(およ)いだ。
I swam 100 meters breaststroke.
平泳(ひらおよ)ぎのフォームを(なお)したい。
I want to fix my breaststroke form.

THE FOUR COMPETITIVE STROKES:

  • 平泳(ひらおよ)ぎ (breaststroke) - slowest but energy-efficient
  • 背泳(せおよ)ぎ (backstroke) - swum on back
  • バタフライ (butterfly) - most demanding
  • クロール/自由形(じゆうがた) (front crawl/freestyle) - fastest

TECHNIQUE:

  • 蛙足(かえるあし) (frog kick)
  • キック(きっく) (kick)
  • プル(ぷる) (pull/arm movement)
  • 息継(いきつ)ぎ (breathing)

COMPETITIVE EVENTS:

  • 50m, 100m, 200m 平泳(ひらおよ)ぎ (individual events)
  • 個人(こじん)メドレー (individual medley - IM)
  • メドレーリレー (medley relay)

HISTORY:

  • The oldest known swimming stroke
  • Japan has produced many Olympic medalists in 平泳(ひらおよ)
  • 北島(きたじま)康介(こうすけ) won gold in 2004 and 2008 Olympics

COLLOCATIONS:

  • 平泳(ひらおよ)ぎで(およ)ぐ (to swim breaststroke)
  • 平泳(ひらおよ)ぎを(なら)う (to learn breaststroke)