Bay Area Multisport Discussion Board

This may be a question to ask at the swim clinic but since that is weeks away here goes.

I typically breathe every 3 strokes. I read somewhere recently that on longer swims every 2 may be better. Anybody have any words of wisdom on this issue?

I say hold your breath for the entire swim. :~) No idea about efficiency, but for breathing so long as it's not drastically impacting your stroke, I'd think breath as often as you need.

Breath however you're most comfortable. If you can, practice breathing on both sides, i'm told it will help your stroke. I only breath on one side, but I also swim the same slow speed regardless of the distance

I practice alternating sides; breathing on strokes 3, 5, 7 and 9.

I also practice breathing with sighting, straight ahead.

Previous to all this breathing, I just held my breath until I had to take a breath. Learning to breath, for me, is definitely made for more comfortable swimming.

Donna

I'm more interested in knowing if cutting my breathing to every two strokes for HIM might be more beneficial than my usual every 3 pattern. I breath fine to either side so can switch sides for the 2 stroke pattern during a long swim. Just wondering if anyone has found that reducing the number of strokes per breath for a long swim helps or not.

I breathe Every 3 in the pool and
most open water swims. At Lonestar the buoys are on your left after the first turn so for that race I breathe every stroke on the left and that's how I sight. I'd say breathe more often for a shorter faster race.

I also breathe every 3 strokes even on my longer swims. I noticed last time during the Olympics that the longer distance swimmers were breathing every other stroke. I read around about it and found every other stroke was recommended to get enough oxygen. I can't quote any sources, that is just what I remember. During a race I will breathe more or change my pattern based on the bouys. The thing I like to do when I get out of beath is to just pull with my arms and let my legs drag. Then you need less oxygen.

Being new to swim... I'm practicing the frequency and bilateral, but I seem to have a belly full of air after swim practice? What should I be doing different? As a Du guy, I am not looking forward to T1 if I can't figure this out...

Unfortunately, I am at a Natural Foods Convention in CA the weekend of the swim clinic... so I'll ask now! I'd be up for a second clinic if we have enough people... and crazy schedule permitting.

So... any recos on a swim coach in the group I can work with on a few private lessons?

I would be willing to bet the persons that swam in college are the ones that breathe every third stroke. They were taught to go anaerobic during the swim because it is more efficient not to breath. The guys that are wearing a snorkels these days are at a great advantage since they can keep their head down and do not disturb their form to breath. That should be a violation of the rules!!! Besides, it looks stupid. That is another subject. Any ways, I need all the air I can get. I started as a runner of sorts and am used to breathing when I want. I can swim using every third stroke for about 300 yards and have found it does not help my speed. I have to slow down my stroke so much to use less air. It feels like I’m constantly air starved. Not good for a 1.5 K swim. There does not seem to be a standard way to circle the buoys. Sometimes clockwise sometimes counterclockwise. Additionally, I have read several articles about it not being good to just swim breathing to one side. I normally breathe to the right and trained myself to breath to the left getting ready for the Austin 1/2. To my surprise, I am actually faster breathing on the left. I think the fact that it is not my normal side which causes me toI concentrate more on my technique. When I swim in the pool, I pick one end or the other and turn to my head towards the competition. So, If you can breath every third stroke, you should, because it is the most balanced and works for clockwise or counterclockwise. Suggest you do a warm up and swim a few 300’s experimenting with the effects on your time. If this does not work e.g. you are swimming so slow to accommodate reduction in air, alternate left and right at each length.

I never did swim team. I am not a swimmer, I'm a triathlete and I struggle with swimming which possibly makes my comments more valuable than a person who has been swimming competitively since first grade. You can be the judge of that.

My breathing changes with distance.

Sprints 300-700yds. All out. breathe every time on the right. If I need to look to the left I'll go three strokes, get a breath on the left the Ill go back to the right. Also assuming its open water Im sighting about every 3rd breath. The only reason I go to the left is if the water conditions make it very hard to breathe right or I want to see something overthere.

Olympic and Half-Iron - 1500M, 2100yds. I breathe mostly to the right, and will usually go two breaths, two breaths, four breaths. I have found that once Im more than 1000 yds in, I can relax and my breathing is not so labored so Im going just as fast or faster by skipping one breath every once in a while.

Ironman - I'm getting beat up so bad I'm breathing where ever the least arms are but to the right more than to the left. I usually hold a 2 stroke pattern but can sometimes go 4 strokes once the battle stops. Unfortunately it never really stopped in Florida last year.

I tried really hard for a couple years to breathe bilaterally every 3 strokes, but I found that every time I got to the race I reverted back to 2 strokes per breath. Midway through the season last year I gave up trying.

I'm a big fan of oxygen and the only time I breathe on 3 is for sighting, but then I'll go right back to every 2. I've done quite a few sets comparing breathing every 3 to every 2 strokes. There is a sweet spot for me where breathing every 3 is better than 2, but it's at a pace just barely faster than my easy pace. After that the lack of oxygen causes me to work more on 3 compared to on 2 and I can't match the efforts.

If you're breathing every 3 all the time, swim faster, because you're slacking.

There have been several great points made in these posts.

For the record...I did do swim team, I was a swimmer and I am a triathlete!

Here is my $.02 on breathing:
Swimming is very much a rhythm sport. I too breath every 2nd stroke in a race or a fast effort. And primarily, I breathe to the right. That's just because I feel more comfortable breathing to the right. But, if someone is swimming to my left in a race - I breathe to the left.

Swim training is the place to bilateral breathe. I suggest doing breathing drills during your pool swim sessions to force yourself to breath bilaterally. Here is an example: 500 swim or pull - breathing every 3rd, 5th, 7th, 5th, 3rd stroke by 100's. This will help balance your stroke, push your capacity to hold your breath and force you to breathe to that uncomfortable side in case you might need to during a race.

Also, sighting is crucial in open water swimming. Newsflash!!! Most of us do not swim straight. This is caused by several things. Some of which are related to primarily breathing to one side too much in practice - if you constantly train breathing to one side, you are strengthing one side of your stroke which can cause you to drift a certain direction. Bilateral breathing during training helps balance out your stroke.

Also, in a pool, we have tons of things to help us swim straight (line on the bottom of the pool, lane lines, the cross at the end of the pool, other swimmers in our lane, etc) In a race, the buoys are in front of you - not to the side. Your focus should shift to what's in front of you. Therefore, you need to force yourself to breath to the front during a race to improve your sighting.

How do we work on these things.....PRACTICE!

Bottom line - don't just go to the pool and do laps. Don't just do drills that improve your stroke efficiency. Do drills that will improve your open water swimming. Because swimming straight will cut your time.

And of course, you will learn all of this in the BAM swim clinic on March 13th. Hope to see you there.