I took lessons when I was a kid and never mastered the breathing technique for freestyle swimming so I gave up on swimming. Now it is 30 yrs later and I am determined to learn how to swim and have been taking a group class at the local natatorium.
I have been making a lot of progress and learning things that I don't remember from my childhood lessons (keep your chin to your chest, making the S-pattern during the pull stroke, etc). I have also been focused on rolling of the body more - and especially rolling to breathe so that my head is on my left arm/shoulder (breathing to the right).
However, I'm still struggling with the breathing in that I am sucking in water and end up choking. I've had multiple people watch me and they say that my form looks good and even the part when I roll to breathe - but they are unsure at what point I am getting water in my mouth.
It's been hard for me to figure it out - here's some of my thoughts - it's a bit hard to self-diagnose and so far the people watching are not catching it -
Is the timing of the opening and closing of my mouth just a bit off that I am sucking water when I turn to breathe and return to face down?
I'm not the best at exhaling underwater so I wonder if I'm trying to exhale and inhale during the short time that I am turned?
Do I need to turn my head more (look at ceiling)?
Am I slowly sucking in water when my face is down since I'm not exhaling correctly?
Any thoughts on how I can figure this out or other things to look for?
Thanks
Mike
I didn't realize I was swallowing water as I swam until I did the second annual Charles River Basin one-mile swim in Boston. (Note: the SECOND annual one-mile swim. I wanted to make sure the brave swimmers who did the FIRST annual one-mile swim did not die of various ailments.)
I have sailed and capsized in that water so I know what floats on it, but it is now swimmable 90% of the time or so, unless it rains hard, and then sewage overflows into the basin from Cambridge and it is not swimmable.
Alas, it started pouring rain once the race was underway, so probably for about 20 minutes (it took me 28 minutes to finish), I was drinking a nice solution.
My point is that when I began to feel vaguely ill later that night just from the memory of having drunk that water, and having taken a bath and seen brown blobby things floating in the tub, thus forcing me to go out to Store 24 and buy gingerale and crackers, I realized I do drink a fair amount of water as I swim. (I didn't get sick for real; it was just the memory of the drinking and the memory of the smell.) I don't guzzle it if I am thirsty, however.
Long post, but a drill given to me to help with breathing was to put on fins, have hands at side, and rotate from side to side, imagining your neck is in a cervical collar (and so in line with your spine and body), and breathe as you roll as a whole unit to the side without lifting your head excessively.
This is a hard drill, however. The keeping one goggle in the water is also a good image. Though I'd say whatever you need to do to keep from choking, do, so that you no longer fear it; then work on "the finer points."
Well, I tried some of the tips this week during my lesson - the more I tried to exhale underwater, the better it was but I still keep getting water in my mouth. Also, if I exaggerated the roll where my face was pointing more at the ceiling rather than the side wall, it helped.
I had multiple people watch today to try to figure out when I'm getting the water in. Whatever I'm doing, it is subtle and hard for them to pinpoint. Two things that they thought were possible - a) my mouth is slightly open underwater and I'm sucking a small amount and b) when I roll to breathe there is that 'sheet' of water on your face and I'm sucking that in.
Two more questions:
Is it possible to swim (freestyle) without getting any water in your mouth? Maybe I have unreasonable expectations. I noticed a couple of the previous posters mentioned always having water in their mouth. Maybe I will eventually get used to it - but I did have a pretty low gag tolerance so that doesn't help.
Should I exhale underwater with my mouth and nose? I've been trying to focus on exhaling underwater since starting lessons. When I started, I used to hold my breath - not doing that but still not a 100% comfortable with the breathing out with my nose. The instructor said that I was exhaling alot out of my nose to the point that she could hear itbut maybe I'm still not getting enough out and should try exhaling out with both nose and mouth?
I noticed that I ALWAYS have water in my mouth when I swim freestyle (and other strokes too). So I do think it's unreasonable to expect you will not have water in your mouth when you swim.
I was thinking your problem may not be with technique, but with your level of comfort in the water. I still suck water in, but when I do, I don't let it phase me and try to recover. Try to be as relaxed as possible and try the 1357 drill. That is do 1 lap breathing every stroke, one lap breathing every third stroke, and so on. It helps with your breathing and makes breathing every third stroke pretty simple.
Hope that helps.
Charlie
I believe it's called "reach to breathe". You should be stretching out on your side anyway, but when you go to breathe, you almost want to be resting on your armpit.
MJ is definitely spot on with all of these comments! I have a lot of youngsters that start out with getting water in their mouth (sucking in water...lots of it), and the way we rectify is almost verbatum of mjgold! Excellent responses!
Also, Michael, congrats on going pro!!
I've still been plugging away at this - so far the biggest help is:
rotate further around when I go to breathe - looking at the ceiling instead of the side wall
focusing on keeping my mouth shut (I think it was slightly open and I was sucking water in).
So a strange thing happened today - I was messing around with a pull buoy and my breathing was much better and I was getting less water in my mouth! And ironically, I was not rotating nearly as much....Does this make sense? I'm guessing the buoy is changing my body position in the water which is helping with the breathing??
I'm so confused :eek:
Maybe you aren't going fast enough. I know when I slow down my pace I begin to take in more water, I'm used to it now and have learned to spit it out under water. The faster you go the more of a pocket of air you make as you go to breath and the less water you will take in. Your hips may also be sinking in the water causing your face to be in the water when you breathe. The pull buoy will help keep your hips up, which may explain why when you swam with the buoy the problem seemed to go away.
swim25...What you said makes sense. I've been wondering about the hips thing - my teacher said that my position looks good but I know as I get tired, I feel like I am sinking..Also, last night I tried flippers for the first time and the breathing was also better - which probably gets to your "speed" comments - with the fins on, I was "flying" - actually almost ran over a lady in my class :-)
So the catch 22 for me is - I'm trying to slow down my pace to not overdue it but not slow down enough that I start sinking!
Put your legs into it. The more you kick, and I don't mean to overdo it with the kick but a nice steady propulsion, it will lift your hips up and make you go a little faster which will create that bubble of air right next to your head. Try it. Also squish your mouth to one side when you breathe in, as if you were trying to blow smoke away from someone while you were talking to them.
