I know a world-record holder who breathes every stroke. He says he likes air.
In my case, I can't breathe in and out that fast, even if I was trying to hyperventilate. So I stick to 2, 3 or more. (I noticed that during lake swims, I was more comfortable sometimes breathing every 4 or 5. Dunno why.)
The virtue of breathing every three is that you can always switch to every two, since you are comfortable with both sides. If you only breathe every two (in practice), you may be restricting your options if you wanted to breathe to the opposite side during a race.
Most people are trained to breathe less during sprints, because of stroke flaws that are exaggerated during breathing (like head-lifting). So fewer breaths means better speed. If you have good balance and technique (like the Olympians), then there is no penalty in efficiency when rolling to take a breath versus leaving your face in the water.
I know a world-record holder who breathes every stroke. He says he likes air.
In my case, I can't breathe in and out that fast, even if I was trying to hyperventilate. So I stick to 2, 3 or more. (I noticed that during lake swims, I was more comfortable sometimes breathing every 4 or 5. Dunno why.)
The virtue of breathing every three is that you can always switch to every two, since you are comfortable with both sides. If you only breathe every two (in practice), you may be restricting your options if you wanted to breathe to the opposite side during a race.
Most people are trained to breathe less during sprints, because of stroke flaws that are exaggerated during breathing (like head-lifting). So fewer breaths means better speed. If you have good balance and technique (like the Olympians), then there is no penalty in efficiency when rolling to take a breath versus leaving your face in the water.
