Breathing problem - Triathlon Week

piscina · 03-20-2008, 01:49 PM

Hi! I started learning swimming two months ago. I swim 3 times a week with a coach. I didn't have a chance to learn as a kid and now I find it VERY difficult to learn to swim as an adult. I wish I had learned when I was kid.
I have two breathing problem when I swim front crawl.
Problem One : I only can breathe on left side. It is impossible to breathe on right side. When my head turns right side to breathe, my body starts losing balance. I am right-handed.
Problem Two : I become out of breath very quickly. I barely can swim 25m. Actually, I even become out of breath when I swim backstroke.

I really want to improve my breathing problem as soon as possible I can so I can enjoy swimming. My coach says, I will get better with time and practice but I want to know what cause these problems and fix them.
Any advice?
Thank you!!!

pyschosyd · 03-21-2008, 04:14 PM

There are a few ways to learn to bi-lateral breathe. I practiced while kicking with a flutterboard held straight out in front.

Here is a link to a good article with some great tips. Don't worry about the young swimmers part. It is a very good resource.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

As far as running out of breath. You probably are working too hard and need to improve your balance. Focus on keeping your butt high and swimming through a tube. Any swim coach worth their salt can help you with this. More importantly just get in the water as much as possible and do a lot of drills. It will come.

tortasinqueso · 03-21-2008, 05:55 PM

Use a kickboard.

Hold the kickboard in front of you, with just your hands touching it. Your arms should be fully outstretched. Now, start kicking...take off ONE hand, doing the full stroke (go under water with your arm, then pull it out of the water, and at the point where you would put it back into the water PUT IT BACK ON THE KICKBOARD). Then switch arms.

Once you get comfortable doing this, it's time to work on your breathing. Do the same exact thing, but this time put your face in the water looking straight down. Breath EVERY time you stroke...this will help you be able to breath on your other side. (After you get totally comfortable with breathing on both sides, you can practice WITHOUT a kickboard breathing every 3 strokes.

Do this slowly, take your time...if there is some part of this you don't understand, message me and I will help you out.

~Michelle :)