To breathe or not to breathe:

Fanstone, I find I swim a faster 25 when not breathing, even a faster 50, of course when younger very few breaths for a 100. If I swim a hard 100 now I breathe very little for the first 25 maybe 3 times the next 25 then after that I breathe every stroke for the next 50 because I need air. Breathing breaks the rythme of your swim.

In freestyle, you should roll partway (~45 degrees) to the side with every stroke. If you are not breathing, your head should not move as your body rotates. When you breathe, you upset the alignment of your body some - if you lift your head to breathe, you really upset your alignment, but if you only rotate your head, you may barely change your alignment. If you can breathe smoothly, then you might as well breathe as often as you need to. If you can't, you should try to breathe less often. Videotape yourself, and you should be able to see whether you are breathing smoothly or not.

I dedicated my 0-1650 into learning a bilateral breath on every 3rd stroke. I still have much to learn and incorporate into a nice looking Front Crawl. I can do a 25 on 0 and a 50 on maybe 3 breaths... I'm entering the 200 Free (because of the need to do another event that day) and plan to swim it Front Crawl. I figure i'll use the same rhythm and style I do the BR 200. Easy first 100 then bump up for 3rd 50, then bump again for next 25, last 25 bust my gut...I can work on it a little but I've entere a 3min time...as I've not swam competetive crawl. Ever.

If we are supposed to be, in the front crawl, always rolling from side to side, what are the advantages of not breathing every other stroke or breathing less and swimming straight? Or should we roll to the side even though not taking a breath? Or is is the fact that the moving of your head a little more to take the breath making more drag? I can see the not breathing an issue in fly because breathing breaks the natural porpoising of the body. The more I swim the fly without breathing the faster I go, so I have to dwell with that, but in freestyle what is the deal? Newbie questions again. billy fanstone I see some others have provided their advise on the subject since I first tried to reply to your message. I had some kind of technical difficulties posting my message earlier....but that was more than likely due to the network on my end and not the USMS site....anyway, I saved my original reply so I will just re-post it below....although it says more or less the same things as what globuggie says (with a few extra things sprinkled in perhaps): How much I breathe depends on the distance of the race IMO. I think you swim a little faster and your body position stays a bit straighter when you are not breathing.....Especially on butterfly....On freestyle, I usually can grab a quick breath without much head movement and so I'm not sure how much of a difference there really is between the speed I can swim freestyle without breathing vs the speed I can swim freestyle breathing every stroke (or every other stroke). I usually only breathe once or twice for a 50 (whether its freestyle or butterfly)....I've been told that a 50 is over quick enough that your body doesn't really have enough time to go into O2 debt?? I think its best to not breath when you breakout from a start or turn....I like grabbing a quick breath about a stroke or two before I go into a turn so that I have the air to stay underwater longer on the ensuing pushoff and streamlining (SDK's and such)....then I wait until I've completeing 1 or 2 stroke cylces after the breakout before I breathe again. In a 100 I breath a lot more (probably at least 2 or 3 breaths per 25)....and in a 200 I breathe even more (after the breakout I might even go into a breath every stroke mode until I am about 1 to 2 strokes from a turn again).....I like breathing to one side as opposed to breathing to both sides b/c I feel I can minimize my head movement better that way and keep my body position straighter.....but everyone is different in this regard. I think the head position thing is one of the crucial concerns about breathing b/c your head position is so connected to your entire body postion.....but since you're body is naturally rotating from side to side, I'm not sure why grabbing a quick breath interrupts the body postioning and general flow of the stroke that much in freestyle?? So I'm a little bit like you in this regards I suppose? Newmastersswimmer

Poolrat, Of course that "friend" of ours would say that it is because of a flaw in the swim technique, but I don't agree and here's why: If a person breathes only on the right side, when they turn their head to breathe, the left arm and shoulder are the support for the entire body during that breath. And if a swimmer does this millions of times, that left shoulder takes a beating. Compound this with how long it takes that swimmer to take a breath and there is even more time that shoulder has to support the swimmer. So I think bilateral breathing is a plus in this regard. I tried for an entire year to breathe on the left and I can do it, but I get dizzy after about a hundred yards; I think my neck is not limber enough in that direction. And, it's going to be a long 18 miles for my left shoulder :shakeshead:. donna

Of course that "friend" of ours would say that it is because of a flaw in the swim technique, but I don't agree and here's why: If a person breathes only on the right side, when they turn their head to breathe, the left arm and shoulder are the support for the entire body during that breath. I suspect your friend would say that you shouldn't have to support your body with the opposite arm. Which might go back to swimming high in the water versus low in the water. But no use :dedhorse: On the other hand, if I breathe to one side for too long my opposite shoulder does get tired. But that is likely due to one of the many flaws in my stroke! :D

In freestyle, you should roll partway (~45 degrees) to the side with every stroke. If you are not breathing, your head should not move as your body rotates. When you breathe, you upset the alignment of your body some - if you lift your head to breathe, you really upset your alignment, but if you only rotate your head, you may barely change your alignment. If you can breathe smoothly, then you might as well breathe as often as you need to. If you can't, you should try to breathe less often. Videotape yourself, and you should be able to see whether you are breathing smoothly or not. I agree vehemently with everything you say, except: If you can't, you should try to breathe less often. In my humble opinion, you should practice smooth breathing if that's what you need. Fair assumption? :smooch: Make Love, not War.

Lindsay, what's interesting is I am swimming lower in the water than I ever have now and the reason is the mileage, but even with being lower, if a swimmer is breathing only on one side, the opposite arm still has to support them while they breathe for if it didn't, they wouldn't be able to breathe because that support arm would already be on its downward cycle into the pull portion instead of catch portion. I suppose there is one other alternative to this: breathe fast to reduce the amt of time the opposite arm has to support oneself. But then that moves us into more of sprinting which I don't and won't do anymore. So even though I can't bilateral breathe and swim comfortably, I wish I had incorporated this into my swimming when I was 9 years old. This is a pretty good discussion; thanks for the dead horse LOL.

It has to do with the fact that every time a swimmer turns the head to breathe, there is great torque on the opposite shoulder. So for us who breathe every stroke, the opposite shoulder is carrying a great burden all of the time. ....... A "friend" of ours would say that if we were swimming with the correct technique there would be no torque on the opposite shoulder. And to some extent I would agree as I think it was partly responsible for my shoulder injury 2 years ago. The pain forced me to learn to breathe to the other side. ....... I am not sure exactly why bilateral breathing seems to be so important; it can't be balance because a relatively good swimmer already has that with body balance, and it can't be to see other swimmers because I can see them underwater. It has mystified me except for the fact that it distributes the torque to both shoulders instead of just one. I agree with this with the exception that a new swimmer or one who has not had a coached, swimming background may not be balanced until they learn to breathe to either side. I definitely wasn't. There was very little rotation to my non-breathing side until I leaned to breathe (comfortably) to either side. Of course, at 55, I am relatively new to swimming. I never participated in organized competitive swimming as a kid, and my only swimming was what we did with the Red Cross lessons and Boy Scouts. I swam my first meet as a 50 year old. My form and technique were very poor until I got help from a coach.

I like breathing to one side as opposed to breathing to both sides b/c I feel I can minimize my head movement better that way and keep my body position straighter.....but everyone is different in this regard. I think the head position thing is one of the crucial concerns about breathing b/c your head position is so connected to your entire body postion.....but since you're body is naturally rotating from side to side, I'm not sure why grabbing a quick breath interrupts the body postioning and general flow of the stroke that much in freestyle?? So I'm a little bit like you in this regards I suppose? I like breathing every stroke also and for the same reason you mention here; minimizing head movement, but there is also a downside to breathing every stroke and it has nothing to do with breathing. It has to do with the fact that every time a swimmer turns the head to breathe, there is great torque on the opposite shoulder. So for us who breathe every stroke, the opposite shoulder is carrying a great burden all of the time. But I love the sensation of my body with one-side breathing only and I am rotating both right and left. And I am noticing more and more record breaking swimmers starting to breathe more often than they did in the past years. I am not sure exactly why bilateral breathing seems to be so important; it can't be balance because a relatively good swimmer already has that with body balance, and it can't be to see other swimmers because I can see them underwater. It has mystified me except for the fact that it distributes the torque to both shoulders instead of just one.