Should beginners learn freestyle or breaststroke first?

For most nervous adult beginners, breaststroke is the gentler first stroke — your head can stay above water, the pace is calm, and it feels controlled. Freestyle is faster and more efficient but demands rhythmic side-breathing, which many beginners find harder at first. Many learn breaststroke first, then freestyle.

Is freestyle or breaststroke easier?

Breaststroke is usually easier to start because you can keep your face out of the water and move at a relaxed pace. Freestyle is more efficient and less tiring once mastered, but its face-down, rhythmic breathing takes practice. Easier to begin: breaststroke. More efficient long-term: freestyle.

Which stroke is best for a beginner to build confidence?

Breaststroke, for most people. Keeping your head up feels safe and controlled, which builds confidence fast. Once you're comfortable and can put your face in and breathe rhythmically, learning freestyle gives you a faster, more efficient stroke to grow into.

Freestyle vs Breaststroke: Which Should Beginners Learn First?

By Jordan Rivers · July 30, 2026 · 4 min read

Freestyle vs breaststroke for beginners is one of the most common questions new adult swimmers ask — and the answer shapes how smooth your start feels. In short: breaststroke is usually the gentler stroke to learn first, while freestyle is more efficient once you’ve got it. Here’s how they compare and how to choose.

The short answer

For most beginners — especially nervous adults — breaststroke is the easier stroke to learn first: you can keep your head above water, move at a calm, controlled pace, and it feels safe. Freestyle is faster and more efficient but requires face-down, rhythmic side-breathing, which many beginners find harder early on. A common path: learn breaststroke first to build confidence, then add freestyle as your stronger, more efficient long-term stroke. Neither choice is wrong — it’s about what keeps you comfortable.

How the two strokes compare

	Breaststroke	Freestyle (front crawl)
Head position	Can stay above water	Face down, in the water
Breathing	Easy, head-up, every stroke	Rhythmic side-breathing (harder)
Pace	Calm, controlled	Faster
Efficiency	Less efficient	More efficient once mastered
Confidence for beginners	High — feels safe	Lower at first — needs breathing skill
Best as	Great first stroke	Great strong second stroke

Why breaststroke is often the gentler start

For a nervous or new adult swimmer, breaststroke has real advantages:

Your head can stay up. No forcing your face into the water before you’re ready — a huge comfort factor.
The pace is calm. It’s an unhurried, controlled stroke that rarely feels frantic.
It feels safe and stable. The glide and steady rhythm build confidence quickly.

That’s why many teachers start nervous adults here. Learn the mechanics in how to do breaststroke for beginners.

Why freestyle is worth learning too

Freestyle (front crawl) is the stroke most people picture as “swimming,” and for good reason:

It’s efficient. Once mastered, it’s less tiring over distance than breaststroke.
It’s faster, and the natural choice for laps and fitness — see how to swim laps for fitness as a beginner.
It builds essential skills. The rhythmic breathing and face-in-water comfort it demands are worth having.

The catch: that rhythmic side-breathing is the part beginners find hardest. If you’re not yet comfortable with your face in the water, freestyle feels frustrating. The step-by-step is in how to swim freestyle step by step, and breathing specifically in how to breathe while swimming for beginners.

So which should you learn first?

A simple way to decide:

Nervous, or not yet comfortable with your face in the water? → Start with breaststroke. Head-up comfort first, always.
Fairly relaxed and can already put your face in and breathe out underwater? → You can go straight to freestyle if you like, or still start with breaststroke for an easy win.
Want the fitness/lap-swimming path? → You’ll want freestyle eventually — but there’s no harm building confidence with breaststroke first.

For the broader question of first strokes, see the easiest swimming stroke to learn first.

You don’t have to pick just one forever

This isn’t a lifelong commitment. Most swimmers end up using both — breaststroke for relaxed, heads-up swimming and freestyle for speed and distance. Learning one makes the other easier, because the core skills (floating, gliding, breathing, kicking) carry across. Start with whichever keeps you calmest and add the other later.

A quick safety note

Practice either stroke in shallow water within your depth, ideally with a lifeguard or instructor present, and build breath control before venturing anywhere deep. This is general technique guidance — an in-person instructor can correct your specific form far better than any article.

The next small step

Pick the stroke that matches your comfort today: nervous → breaststroke, relaxed and face-in-ready → freestyle. Spend your next session on just that one, in the shallow end, focusing on staying relaxed. Once it feels natural, come back and learn the other — see how to do breaststroke for beginners or how to swim freestyle step by step.

Frequently asked questions

Should beginners learn freestyle or breaststroke first?: For most nervous adult beginners, breaststroke is the gentler first stroke — your head can stay above water, the pace is calm, and it feels controlled. Freestyle is faster and more efficient but demands rhythmic side-breathing, which many beginners find harder at first. Many learn breaststroke first, then freestyle.
Is freestyle or breaststroke easier?: Breaststroke is usually easier to start because you can keep your face out of the water and move at a relaxed pace. Freestyle is more efficient and less tiring once mastered, but its face-down, rhythmic breathing takes practice. Easier to begin: breaststroke. More efficient long-term: freestyle.
Which stroke is best for a beginner to build confidence?: Breaststroke, for most people. Keeping your head up feels safe and controlled, which builds confidence fast. Once you're comfortable and can put your face in and breathe rhythmically, learning freestyle gives you a faster, more efficient stroke to grow into.