Swimming Question of the Week - October 26, 2011

We haven't done a question for a while, so here's something I've been trying to see what people are thinking.

The two main strokes where you have the opportunity to vary your rate will typically be freestyle and breaststroke.  While you can certainly vary them in backstroke and butterfly, there isn't quite as much chance to add glide in backstroke, or adding too much in butterfly can ruin your rhythm.

With that said... what would be the point of taking shorter strokes for breaststroke or freestyle?