I know this topic has been beaten to death, but I'm really struggling with breathing and I can't figure out why. I am breathing out under water, emptying most of my lungs slowly, and am ready to breath in when going for air. I definitely feel like I'm getting a good amount of air and have become pretty proficient at rolling to air, keeping my balance, and breathing in that trough. The feeling I get is extreme air hunger after a lap, like I need to take a breath in quickly. I really don't have the same problem with other sports. I've tried taking a coupole of puffs of Albuterol before swimming, but it has had no effect and makes me doubt that the chlorine gases are causing this.
I'm wondering if this is an issue of getting used to a little hypoxia or hypercarbia. Maybe I'm panicking at the first pang of hypercarbia. Has anyone experienced this, and is it resolved by training yourself to do that next lap despite feeling short of breath? Is there a barrier that you need to push yourself through and then the rest gets easier? Or perhaps I am
