Sprint Freestyle Technique: The Non-Negotiables Phelps, Dressel and Walsh All Share

Every year it happens. A world-class swimmer does something their coach told them never to do. The clip goes viral. Swimmers and parents start asking: “So why can’t we do that?”

In 2026 it is Egor Kornev. He swam a 21.06 in the 50 free — one of the fastest times in history — and he breathes. Multiple times. In the 50. The race where every coach says: do not breathe.

I am David Karasek, Olympic finalist and Swiss record holder in the 200m IM. This is what is actually going on with Kornev, and what sprint freestyle technique really comes down to.

Why Kornev breathes in the 50 free — and why you should not copy him

There is a specific reason Kornev breathes in the 50 free, and it is not “he needs a breath.” His coach identified something about his individual body line where not breathing made him slower than breathing. The breathing is not a quirk or a mistake — it is an intentional technical decision tied to how that particular swimmer generates speed.

But here is what matters: before that decision was ever made, Kornev’s body rotation was exceptional. His line was exceptional. His fundamentals were in place before any individual adjustment was introduced.

Swimmers who see this and immediately ask “can I breathe in the 50 free?” are looking at the exception without the foundation. And an age-group national-level swimmer comparing their technique to someone swimming one of the fastest 50 frees ever recorded is, to put it simply, comparing themselves to the wrong person.

“We start with what works for most people. Then if that does not work, we adjust.” — Yul Munger, head coach, Swimpros

That is the principle. Get the model right first. The exceptions are for later, and they are introduced because of evidence specific to one swimmer — not because something looked cool on Instagram.

The non-negotiables every fast sprinter shares

Michael Phelps barely moved his upper body. Ryan Lochte had huge upper body movement. Caeleb Dressel has a distinctive big knee motion. Gretchen Walsh has some of the most powerful underwaters in the women’s game. All of them look different in the water.

But here is what they all share, without exception:

• A clean streamline — off every wall, on every length.
• Consistent body rotation — the hips driving, not just the shoulders.
• Two kicks per stroke cycle, regardless of body size.
• Flexible ankles — this is more trainable than most people realise.
• Core strength that keeps the line intact under fatigue.
• Underwater dolphin kicks that are actually fast, not just present.

These are not tweaks. They are non-negotiables. And the coaches of every elite swimmer on that list made sure these were solid before they ever started looking at individual adjustments. Dressel has one of the most powerful kicks ever recorded — not despite his technique basics, but because of them.

Basics before tweaks: the right coaching order

Here is what I see constantly in the swimmers who come to our camps: they have been training hard for years, but nobody has gone back and made the basics genuinely excellent. The streamline has a bend. The ankle flexibility was never developed. The rotation is there but weak. The underwaters are present but not generating real speed.

And then they pick up a technical cue from Instagram — breathing in the 50, or a specific arm path, or a head position — and layer it on top of a foundation that is not yet solid. The cue does not help. Sometimes it makes things worse. And the swimmer is left wondering why the thing that works for someone fast is not working for them.

The answer is always the same: basics first. Once the body can reliably do what works for 80% of elite swimmers, then you start looking for the individual 10ths. Not before.

At Swimpros, this is why we run Flume Channel Video Analysis with Peter Mankoč — swimmers see their own technique in steady flow, frame by frame, and we identify the most leveraged thing to fix. It is almost never the thing they came in thinking they needed to change.

Internal vs external change: what swim parents often miss

Here is a question I put to swimmers: which matters more, changing your mindset (internal) or changing your environment (external)?

Most say internal, because that is what they have been told. But it is actually a trick question, because both matter enormously — and parents often underestimate the external side.

Imagine a swimmer whose coach has three favourites, is not one of them, gets no feedback, and dreads going to the pool because the environment is intimidating. The club switches coaches. The new coach watches them every session, gives feedback, and genuinely cares. The swimmer has not changed a single internal habit. But their life has changed.

The environment is not a soft factor. It is often the most powerful lever available to a parent. Looking for a coach who genuinely invests in every swimmer, a team with real energy, a camp where the athlete is seen as an individual — these are external changes that can unlock internal change that would never have happened otherwise.

Parents who understand this do not just encourage their swimmer. They actively look for environments that facilitate the kind of growth they want to see. That search matters more than any mindset conversation you could have at the kitchen table.

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