I am an Age Group and Masters Swim Coach While I am very comfortable working with strong swimmers, sometimes I teach lessons to adults who want to do triathlons and are fairly new to swimming. Every so often, I find a swimmer who has problems breathing. I have already read previous discussions where breathing is a problem and all the suggestions recommend improving stroke technique. I am very aware of the benefits of TI and like to encorporate it whenever I can. I have a very fit runner who now has pretty good stroke technique but after 25 yards is too out of breath to continue. Being a life-long swimmer, and having 8 year old swimmers who can go 1000 yards without problems, I can't fathom how anyone can't "breathe". This sounds very basic but in order to get a good diagnosis, I will try to be very specific. He is exhaling slowly, continuously, and completely through his nose before he rolls to inhale through his mouth. I generally have him breath every 3 strokes, but sometimes vary it and nothing seems to help. Has anyone encountered this and if so, are there better drills than just simple bobs?
Parents
Former Member
Reb,
Finally, someone who is going through what I am. I've swum my entire life (now 42) and used to be able to go 800 yards in the pool without rest, 25-30 strokes per length, breathing on one side only. A couple of years ago I picked up Terry's book and then Emmetts and started to learn how to swim all over again. Now, my average stroke count is 14-15 per length and I do bilateral breathing. The problem is that I also ran out of gas after 25 yards, with no kicking, and I couldn't get passed that for the longest time. Now, I breath 2-3 times on one side, then switch to the other side for 2-3 breaths, sometimes more. I have also forced myself to not stop after 25 yards and am now doing intervals of 50s and occasionally 100s. If I feel my stroke start to fall apart, I go back to balance drills for awhile and try to relax. It's been a long slow process for me, but I feel like I am starting to be able to go longer distances again without completely flailing. I used to think I was the only person who had this problem.
Stefan
Reb,
Finally, someone who is going through what I am. I've swum my entire life (now 42) and used to be able to go 800 yards in the pool without rest, 25-30 strokes per length, breathing on one side only. A couple of years ago I picked up Terry's book and then Emmetts and started to learn how to swim all over again. Now, my average stroke count is 14-15 per length and I do bilateral breathing. The problem is that I also ran out of gas after 25 yards, with no kicking, and I couldn't get passed that for the longest time. Now, I breath 2-3 times on one side, then switch to the other side for 2-3 breaths, sometimes more. I have also forced myself to not stop after 25 yards and am now doing intervals of 50s and occasionally 100s. If I feel my stroke start to fall apart, I go back to balance drills for awhile and try to relax. It's been a long slow process for me, but I feel like I am starting to be able to go longer distances again without completely flailing. I used to think I was the only person who had this problem.
Stefan
