[graigcone]

I'm just starting my swim training and find that my form is better if I breathe every other full stroke but I can't keep it up for long. Your thoughts?

[Coach Cherilyn]

It depends upon your event. If you are doing long distance, you may want to bilateral breathe. You say you are a beginner so your form will certainly improve over time. It does take a while. Good luck!

[wannatri]

Bilateral breathing is generally a good thing. But, I think how often you breathe depends more on what's comfortable for you.

Form and technique are the most important thing. If you say your form is better breathing every other stroke, I suspect your body getting out of balance when you are breathing. If your body is out of alignment while breathing, your next arm stroke really is trying to recover your body position instead of moving forward. This is very common. Look into Total Immersion swimming or find a good coach to work with you on technique.

Good luck!

[Zylo]

In the pool I shoot for every 4-5 Strokes, but the nice cold Lakes we have here in Northern Ontario, Canada force you to breathe a hell of a lot more than that! The cold water just shoots through you're whole body and you need more oxygen. So after many races in open water and breathing faster, I decided to start that type of training in the pool and breathe every other stroke. My times improved in the open water :)

I come from a swimming background and I can tell you that the less time you spend moving your head around, the more streamlined and focused you are and the faster you will go. Turning your head to breathe will throw off your fluid stroke and create waves, so the less you have to breathe the better. Also, if you can get in a steady pattern of breathing every 4-5 strokes, you will force yourself to stay at a pace that you can handle over a longer distance.

What I'm saying is, if the water is warmer where you live and you wear a wetsuit, shoot for every 4-5 strokes if you can. Your strokes will be more fluid and your pace will be much better. If the water is colder, train for it. You'll have to take a few more breathes, so every 2-3 is better.

I've also found that sometimes (a lot of times) in a race, you will go to breathe and only find a mouthful of water from other people splashing. So if you need air, and your on stroke 5, and you get a mouthful of water, you're going to be in some trouble, so breathing more often will ensure you have a more constant supply of oxygen. Just one more thing to think about :)


One last thought for everyone. A Little Off Topic (But Not Totally) When lining up on the beach for a race, if you know you won't be at the front of the pack. PLEASE! Stand behind people on the beach! You'll only have people kicking and splashing around you as they pass you, so it's no help to you. And you're just getting in the way of the front pack swimmers at the start and making it more difficult for everyone. Please lineup on the beach according to your level of swimming! If you've raced triathlons before, you should have a good idea of where you are and know where to lineup. If you haven't raced triathlons before and don't know where you will be, STAND AT THE BACK!

Just my 2 cents.