Hi,
I started swimming a couple of months ago following a running injury. I can't run at the moment so I thought I would keep fit by swimming, but my problem is I don't know how to breathe... I can barely do 25 mt and then I have to stop and rest for 30-60 seconds. I have no problem running (I completed my first half marathon in March) so I can't understand why this is so difficult..
I'm working with a teacher to improve my freestyle crawl technique (which was quite poor as I hadn't had much practice in the last 20 years or so...) and she says the breathing will come naturally, but after 2 months swimming twice a week I can't see any improvement... still cannot swim continously for more than 25 metres. I can do *** stroke or back stroke without stopping, it's just the freestyle what gets me completely out of breath.
Is there anything I can do to improve my breathing technique?
Thanks
The downside to breathing only to one side is loss of balance as well as losing the ability to comfortably breathe to the other side if you need to. In open water swimming, the wave patterns and other swimmers sometimes force you to breathe on the other side.I agree that breathing comfortable to either side is a worthwhile objective. However, I tend to disagree with it improving your balance. Yes, bilateral breathing requires you to rotate left and right to breath, but if your stroke is out of balance when you breath to one side it will likely be out of balance when you breath to both sides. It may be less noticeable as you wobble down the pool.
If you have a stroke imbalance, first fix the imbalance on you dominant side, next fix it on your other side, and then work on bilateral breathing. You can work on non-dominant and bilateral at the same time, but fix the stroke first; don’t just mask the issue.
The downside to breathing only to one side is loss of balance as well as losing the ability to comfortably breathe to the other side if you need to. In open water swimming, the wave patterns and other swimmers sometimes force you to breathe on the other side.I agree that breathing comfortable to either side is a worthwhile objective. However, I tend to disagree with it improving your balance. Yes, bilateral breathing requires you to rotate left and right to breath, but if your stroke is out of balance when you breath to one side it will likely be out of balance when you breath to both sides. It may be less noticeable as you wobble down the pool.
If you have a stroke imbalance, first fix the imbalance on you dominant side, next fix it on your other side, and then work on bilateral breathing. You can work on non-dominant and bilateral at the same time, but fix the stroke first; don’t just mask the issue.
