breaststroke height: amanda beard

Fei Chen said:

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on how Amanda Beard manages
to rise out of water at such heights in her breaststroke style? I read
somewhere that attributes to the abdominal and lower back strength, but
where does the leverage for that strength come from? Do the arms have to
sweep in really hard I suppose?

Cheers,

fei

I changed to the Beard style breaststroke about a year ago but haven't
perfected it yet. I get height and hands out of the water from the
arms/hands insweep acceleration and arch of back. It is tough to race
more than 100 meters using this style though but that may change with
practice.

Cheers,

Karen