If you are comfortable breathing every 3, then by all means keep doing it on meets. If you start blacking out from oxygen deprivation then go back to every 1 or 2.
However, just because you see Olympians breathing every 2, doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone. These guys spend years improving their stroke to a point where breathing does not adversely impact their mechanics. This is not true for most swimmers. Also a lot of these guys are taking 10 to 15 meter underwater breakouts from each wall, which often necessitates a little more breathing when they finally come up, especially in short course pools. I personally feel like my lungs are ready to implode after about a 7 meter breakout in the middle of my races.
Shannan, I’m a distance swimmer, or at least I try to be one, and I’ve experimented with a variety of breathing patters (2- all the way, 3-all the way, 2-2-3-2-2-3, 2-2-1-2-2-1, etc.) and kick patterns (2-beat, 6-beat). What works best for me, in pool events, is a strong 6 beat kick and breathing every 2 strokes. When I use a 2 beat kick I usually go to breathing every 3.
If you are comfortable breathing every 3, then by all means keep doing it on meets. If you start blacking out from oxygen deprivation then go back to every 1 or 2.
However, just because you see Olympians breathing every 2, doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone. These guys spend years improving their stroke to a point where breathing does not adversely impact their mechanics. This is not true for most swimmers. Also a lot of these guys are taking 10 to 15 meter underwater breakouts from each wall, which often necessitates a little more breathing when they finally come up, especially in short course pools. I personally feel like my lungs are ready to implode after about a 7 meter breakout in the middle of my races.
Shannan, I’m a distance swimmer, or at least I try to be one, and I’ve experimented with a variety of breathing patters (2- all the way, 3-all the way, 2-2-3-2-2-3, 2-2-1-2-2-1, etc.) and kick patterns (2-beat, 6-beat). What works best for me, in pool events, is a strong 6 beat kick and breathing every 2 strokes. When I use a 2 beat kick I usually go to breathing every 3.
