When I googled 'freestyle "breathing pattern"' today, I came across this story:
www.paloaltoonline.com/.../2000_Jun_28.SWIMMING.html
The story is inspiring. It talks about how Dara Torres, at the age of 33, set an American record in the women's 50 meter freestyle in the summer of 2000.
Beside her "old age", an interesting aspect of the story was that she changed her usual breathing pattern for the race. Instead of taking just two or three breaths the entire race, she breathed every three strokes to prevent oxygen debt at the end, because she has asthma.
This is the first time that I have ever heard of someone breaking a record or getting a really fast time by breathing frequently in a 50 meter freestyle race.
A couple of nights ago, I watched Canada's Brett Hayden win a silver medal in the 50 free at the commonwealth games. I'm not sure how many breaths he took, but he did say in the interview afterwards that he did not take any breaths in the last 20 meters. So I think he probably took 2 or 3 breaths.
This got me to wondering, "what is the ideal number of breaths to take in a 50 meter freestyle race?" I have heard that most people take 2 or 3 breaths. I usually take 3. What about you guys? Also, what is your breathing pattern for the 100 meter free?
I need 2-3 breaths in the LC 50 meter free. I usually do the 50 yard free in 1 breath. At my last meet I took two because I swallowed a lung full of water on the first breath!
I have been told that elite swimmers do an entire 50 yard freestyle with no breath. I am not sure that is for me, though. I do it in about 23 seconds, so I take alittle longer than the elites.:)
I doubt, though I do not know, whether anybody does 50 meter freestyles with no breaths. Perhaps Gary or others could chime in.
I'm new to masters' swimming and also pretty slow. But I sometimes test out how much difference it makes to take more breaths or fewer. When I'm doing the first couple, it seems the fewer breaths the better, but when I'm tired, I notice that I actually slow down when I try to do 50s w/ minimal breaths instead of just breathing as needed. It feels as if there's less and less "pick-up" and less to be gained from not taking breaths. YMMV.
Try to take as few breaths as possible. Dara was a very strong swimmer and talented. Her motives for breathing more may be different than for you or me. The 50 is too short to spend moving your head around that much. If you can't do it without a breath then take 1 breath down and 2 on the way back. Usually, you don't need more than 3 breaths over 50 yards. Most do it in 1 or 2 breaths as we get older.
Now... the 100 is another philosophy... especially meters. I suggest breathing quite a bit more on this race.
I'm really horrible at breath control, so I usually breathe 2-3 times on the first lap and 3-4 times the second lap of a 50 yd free. Of course, I'm a backstroker, and I also like swimming *** - the two strokes involving the least breath control.
The breathing issue remains difficult for me--if I don't think about it too much, I actually can do a 25 or 50 with fewer breaths, no problem, but as soon as the coach tells me, try to see how long you can go w/out breathing, I start needing more breaths. I might get to that wonderful place where I can do it without a breath--but that still seems pretty far away. How do you folks do it? Is it just a matter of practice or is there a technique that could help things along?
What I do notice is that if I take a quick duck underwater and breathe out before a short repeat, it seems to help a little, but I don't exactly know why. Placebo effect, maybe....
I've read that the build-up of carbon dioxide causes an urge to breathe before you are actually out of oxygen. That maybe why exhaling before the repeat helps.
This really depends on how balanced you are when you are breathing. Some people can swim the same speed, taking or not taking a breath.
Most of us slow down, which is why for a 50 the suggestion is to breathe as little as possible, without the breathing instinct causing you to twitch spastically.
This is true. It depends on how balanced your are in your swimming, and also how relaxed you can be.
In the 80's there was a guy from Germany who won the 50 free - he took a breath every second stroke. That worked for him. Maybe he would have been quicker with less breaths? We will never know.
Many years ago I set my personal best on 50 free on the first leg of a relay. As this was in the morning (prelims) and I did not need to go all out for us to reach the final I also allowed myself to take some extra breaths. In the evening I tried to go all out and skipped breathing. I was 0.2 s slower an a lot more tired.
But as most of us do not have the perfect breathing technique, I guess that we should try avoiding to many breaths and also make sure to relax while we swim.
Also remember to breathe controlled - it is better to breathe before you HAVE to breathe, if you know what I mean. The breathe when you HAVE to breathe is usually not nice to watch! ;o)
Taking one or two breaths in a 50 is not about maximizing your anaerobic capacity. It's about form, as has been discussed. I also think people shouldn't breathe so much in the 100 free, but it's not easy to breathe every other stroke cycle after 40 seconds of hard swimming.
