freestyle breathing help(long)!!

I have had this problem, basically hyperventilating, to the point where I feared I had a heart defect! I'd not breathe out fully and wind up winded, hanging off the wall gasping after just one length. I have solved it by practicing sets of bobs before each swim, just dipping and blowing bubbles out my nose, fully exhaling through my nose and inhaling through my mouth when I pop up, until I have a nice easy relaxed rhythm, then I do breaststroke laps. I find that breaststroke is a very organic stroke that is an easy intro to relaxed rhythmic breathing. Then I move on to other strokes. This was how I have worked out my problem of holding my breath, not breathing out fully, fighting the urge to gasp underwater and winding up in an oxygen deficit after a ridiculously brief effort. I'm still working on this. During my swim I still catch myself breath-holding, and I still have to do a few sets of bobs to get back to a calm pattern of breathing fully out underwater and fully in over water.

Two possibilities come to mind: 1) you say your speed is infinitely better. Swimming infinitely fast will tend to wind you. :D 2) swimming with better technique can be like riding a bike in higher gear in that if you swim with a dropped elbow it takes very little effort to pull your arms through the water (of course you won't swim very fast) which is like spinning in a low gear in cycling. Also, some people, in an attempt at lowering their stroke count will go to a very catchup-like stroke and either lose speed between pulls, requiring a high effort stroke to regain it again, or kick hard to maintain speed, either of which will tend to wind you. You could experiment with swimming slower, swimming with a pull buoy, and kicking to try to isolate what is winding you. If you can swim your old bad style without getting winded then probably it isn't a pool chemical problem. It would be good to tell us your time per fifty for your old stroke and for your new stroke. My speed is infinitely faster, not fast, lol. What I mean is that my stroke distance is much better and my efficiency is much better. Just like you said, when I had a dropped elbow before my arms easily slipped through the water, whereas on every stroke now I feel the recruitment of my lats and triceps like I'm lifting weights. I never timed my old stroke 50, but I'm sure it was probably around 70-80 seconds at a relaxed pace. On a relaxed (relatively) 25 meters now I average about 25 seconds, on a sprint I've reached 16 sec (both values off the wall with a small push, not diving). I did a relaxed 50 meters today which took me about 55 seconds, and I was still catching my breath at the end. When I say relaxed now, what I mean is low stroke rate and not kicking hard. I'm not sure I even know how to relax my arms anymore, I'm now conditioned to feel that water resistance against my forearm and really pull myself over it. I'm sure the idea with the vertical forearm is to hold the water and propel yourself over with the kick and rotation. I rotate OK, but my kick timing and rhythm are so bad I think I'm depending way to much on my upper body. That could be what's wearing me out, 25 meters is literally like doing 20 reps on a weight machine. I bought a pair of zoomers and a Finis snorkel. and have been doing kicking drills like Ande suggested. My kick is pretty weak, so I'm hoping to both strengthen it and achieve coordination of kick and arm stroke. I've scoured youtube video to help with kick coordination to no avail. Incidentally I did take a couple puffs of Albuterol prior to swimming today and it definitely helped somewhat, but I think there's still elements of poor breathing technique and lack of rhythm.

I think you must be trying to swim over the top of the water. Let the water do its work it is very hard if you swim too high in the water. The water pushes you to the surface so let it help you. If you are using proper technique it should be easier. Slow down the whole thing will come together if you relax. You should exhale underwater, do not inhale underwater? LOL, I corrected it. Would have made it a simple solution, though. Inhale out of water.

Two possibilities come to mind: 1) you say your speed is infinitely better. Swimming infinitely fast will tend to wind you. :D 2) swimming with better technique can be like riding a bike in higher gear in that if you swim with a dropped elbow it takes very little effort to pull your arms through the water (of course you won't swim very fast) which is like spinning in a low gear in cycling. Also, some people, in an attempt at lowering their stroke count will go to a very catchup-like stroke and either lose speed between pulls, requiring a high effort stroke to regain it again, or kick hard to maintain speed, either of which will tend to wind you. You could experiment with swimming slower, swimming with a pull buoy, and kicking to try to isolate what is winding you. If you can swim your old bad style without getting winded then probably it isn't a pool chemical problem. It would be good to tell us your time per fifty for your old stroke and for your new stroke.

Definitely start training yourself to relax more in the pool. You are thinking way too much about it. The one drill that I feel will help you breathe better is a simple one we all do once in a while... it's the six kicks and pull drill. Take one freestyle stroke and then kick 6 times - while you are kicking, you will be on your side and you can put your head out of the water to breathe everytime you do a stroke (one arm is extended out in front and the other will be by your hip while you kick - you will obviously breathe to the side that your arm is by your hip). Take it slow, feel the water and calm down. Put some fins on if you have a weak kick and need some more power or leverage. It will come naturally for you in time. If you are still having trouble after this, I'd just switch to backstroke. ;)

I will get someone to videotape me in the next few days, thanks.

Just because you are anchoring your arms doesn't mean you have to apply a lot of force. If I were you I would spend some time learning to swim with the right positioning and technique but applying almost no force - just practicing going through the correct motions. If you have good balance you should be able to do it completely relaxed with very little expenditure of energy. This totally relaxed approach may also help you integrate the various elements of your stroke as any time you find yourself having to exert force you know it is because you are compensating for some flaw. Video of your stroke would be very helpful.