I completed my first Masters competition this weekend in the 100m Free which I'm proud of. However, during the last 15m of the race I began to hyperventilate and had to actually grab on to the lane rope in order to get my breathing under control as I felt I could not catch a single breath. Was totally embarrassed to say the least.
I actually think I went out too fast as compared to what I normally pace myself while in practice. Secondly, I was nervous before the race as this was my first competition but I wouldn't say extremely nervous. So both factors may have contributed to the hyperventilation.
Any suggestions on how to prevent this in the future? I don't want this to get into my head and be a stumbling block moving forward. Has anyone else experienced this while swimming and what did you do to overcome?
I work with a lot of new masters swimmers and find that hyperventilation is often a result of not exhaling fully before inhaling again. It's worse during races, because you're concentrating on the speed. When you're practicing, be sure to exhale fully before breathing again. I suffer from this, usually when swimming hard sets with little rest. When it happens, I take a short rest, then swim nice and relaxed freestyle being sure to blow out a steady stream of bubbles every time my face is in the water.
I work with a lot of new masters swimmers and find that hyperventilation is often a result of not exhaling fully before inhaling again. It's worse during races, because you're concentrating on the speed. When you're practicing, be sure to exhale fully before breathing again. I suffer from this, usually when swimming hard sets with little rest. When it happens, I take a short rest, then swim nice and relaxed freestyle being sure to blow out a steady stream of bubbles every time my face is in the water.
