Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

orca1946 — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 05:52:53 GMT

How you learned is how most of us swim --- dispite all the drills we do on our teams. I try to take 1 - 2 bilaterals per length ,but can never keep it going. Faster??? I don't think so.

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

ande — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 09:36:43 GMT

I am trying to condition myself to breath every 3 strokes instead of 2. Will this help make me a faster and more efficient swimmer? Are their any other benefits that I will receive from breathing every 3 strokes? Probably not Which event? We are humans we need air

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

Redbird Alum — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 03:52:28 GMT

I've witnessed national records dropping to swimmers who breathe every stroke. No one giving them their championship medal was saying "Yeah, well you breathed too much." Breathing when you need to is detrimental. I say, breathe when you want to.

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

SLOmmafan — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 12:40:07 GMT

When push comes to shove in a race, you will do whatever you can to get maximum o2 to your body. I am right handed...in an all out sprint I always breathe left. Trying to bilateral throws me off my timing too much. In a longer race a switch it up so I am not over exerting one arm/shoulder during a race.

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

Former Member — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 16:46:27 GMT

Did a little more research. And from what I've read (not sure how accurate it is) professional swimmers mostly train with bilateral breathing to help keep their form solid. But when they race they breathe however they feel most comfortable. But they may opt to throw in a bilateral breath here or there to keep an eye on the competition on the other side of the pool.

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

Former Member — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 16:23:11 GMT

How important is oxygen to you?You can certainly swim straighter with bilateral breathing.I don't know of any elite swimmers who breathe bilaterally consistently in races over 200 because the need for O2 is greater than any efficiency gain. I think you should try breathing every 3 in your best events. :)

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

Former Member — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 16:17:29 GMT

Being able to breathe every 3 will make you faster. That means your stroke is more symmetrical. That doesn't mean breathing every 3 will be the fastest pattern when you race. I like sunruh's strategy - several 2's then a 3 to switch sides.

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

Former Member — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 16:10:33 GMT

Currently I'm not training for any meets. I've been training for triathlons. I noticed when I started open water swimming that I tend to drift on the side I breathe. I figured breathing every 3 strokes would help keep me straight. Even though in the pool I have the black like to follow I imagine I must be wasting effort and time making small corrections to keep me straight. It's my 2nd week really focusing on every 3 strokes. At first it seems like it has slowed me down a bit. But now that I'm a little more comfortable with it I feel more efficient and feel like I'm getting longer reaches to start my pull than if I was breathing on one side only. I'm just curious what others experiences are with working on both techniques. I also imagine that it would help keep your body symmetrical with my stroke as well.

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

Rob Copeland — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 12:48:07 GMT

Breathing every 3 strokes may help you swim straighter, but it might not help fix the root cause for your drift. Swimming straight has more to do with hand placement and your pull, than it does with breathing. However I do see a lot of one-side breathers drift towards their breathing side because they cross-over with the opposite hand. If you bilateral breathe and overreach, you are still crossing over and making your stroke inefficient, you will just wiggle instead of drift. I try to get swimmers to learn to swim straight breathing to the left, right and bilaterally; so they are prepared to adjust to race conditions (sun, chop, course design, etc.). Bilateral breathing should help with body symmetry, but you should be working on this regardless of your breathing pattern.

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

sunruh — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 11:53:08 GMT

depends on the event! on the 50scy you only need 1 breath going down and 1 back. some might say not even that many. the 1650 or 1500...completely different ballgame. also, it is hard to say if at masters we need more air or not, but look at the superstars. heck jason lezak even said you cant do well in the 100m free if you dont breathe every stroke. yang sun (wr in 1500) not only breathes every stroke but takes TWO! (2) before each turn!!! but both of these are race examples. does that mean you should train like that? again hard to say and based on the event(s) you want to race. usually you want to breath on an odd number (ie side to side) to keep your stroke balanced. countless times i see 1 sided breathers that have the opposite arm go way out not under the body. i think in my 800 in italy last year i went 2 2 3 2 2 (ie 2 breaths on 1 side then switch side and 2 breaths). on a long race it also lets you look at other lanes. i hated being in lane 10 and looking at the gutter so i just tried that much harder to put my USA/USMS cap in front!

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

pendaluft — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 10:44:24 GMT

on the other extreme: Paul Newsome won the Manhattan Island Marathon this year -- apparently breathing bilaterally www.feelforthewater.com/.../paul-newsomes-winning-manhattan-race.html

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

Allen Stark — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 04:44:02 GMT

And the bilateral extreeme case of a two breath stroke cycle (sun yang) He certainly doesn't do it consistently,just into the turns,but it is an example of how important getting enough O2 is.

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

__steve__ — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 02:29:46 GMT

I don't know of any elite swimmers who breathe bilaterally consistently in races over 200 because the need for O2 is greater than any efficiency gain. And the bilateral extreeme case of a two breath stroke cycle (sun yang)

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

Allen Stark — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 02:25:41 GMT

RE: Will breathing every 3 strokes make me faster?

__steve__ — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 02:03:21 GMT

View our very own, Fresnoid: www.youtube.com/watch Notice the rhythm and pattern. Also the quick sighting maneuver (without dropping hips) on occasions just prior, as he switches his breathing side.