I've been trying to focus on my butterfly lately, and I really seem to have a problem getting a breathing pattern that works. First I had to slow down my pace, and really concentrate on my kick, but I'm still having trouble breathing. I seem to remember every 3rd stroke being a good pattern, but my brain says every 2nd would be better. Unfortunately, if I try for every other, it almost seems like I'm working harder to get my face up to catch a breath. Since our pool has just little ropes with floats, it really takes some doing to get above the waves and I'm trying to break myself of the side breathing habit.
Breathing slows me down. Phelps I am not.
50 fly - no breath on the first 25, free breath on the turn, one breath on the second 25.
100 fly - 1 or 2 breaths on the first 25, then breathe every other stroke until the last 12.5, no breaths from there on in.
200 fly - breathe every other stroke until I can't. Then allow some 2-1-2, 1-2-1, etc.
10k fly - :eek: oh who am I kidding, 200 meters is the most continuous fly I've done. I do intend to eventually join the Butternut Club but haven't gotten around to it yet... it'll happen any day now I'm sure...
This is pretty impressive! I don't think most mortals can do this.
I agree with Muppet, breathing is largely inefficient. It depends what distance you're doing. On a 50, I try to SDK on the start and turn a lot, maybe 3 breaths per 50 or 4 at the most? On a 100, lots of SDKs on start and turn and no breathing off the starts and turns to avoid breaking streamline, then I tend to breathe every other until the end. When I tried breathing every third stroke on the first 50 on a LC 100 once, the last 15 meters was impossible. I haven't swum a masters 200. As a kid, I breathed every other until I couldn't. As a master, I wouldn't do this event. But I'm sure I would need to breathe a ton. But I know it would start to make me feel like I was going up and down instead of forward.
I tend to need lots of air (comes from years of being a backstroker). In practice, I almost always breathe every 2, unless it's a 25 sprint. On a 50 I usually breathe every 3 or 4, and on a 100 I breathe every 2 as long as I can, then 2 up/1 down. I haven't tried a 200 fly yet.
Thanks for all the replies. I think what I'm hearing is that I need to just keep practicing doing every other stroke breathing. It's just so inefficient. My brain would rather do something like every 3 or every 4.
Oh, and I guess I really need to work those SDK's so I don't have to actually swim so much.
We must just keep plugging away. We all swim or try to swim in the comfort zone. We must breathe, it is to figure out what is best for ourselves. I tried every thing in the past every 2, every three, no breathing you name it.
There are examples of former and current world-class fliers who breathe every stroke (Summer Sanders) to others who use two or more in the 200 (Phelps, Davis Tarwater). Who can argue these swimmer's breathing styles weren’t/aren’t successful? One size does not fit all. Bottom line is, what works best for you?
