I've always tried to breathe every other stroke in fly, but watching the elites at Worlds breathe every stroke made me want to try it out. So recently I experimented with breathing every stroke in fly. Findings after a couple workouts where I averaged about 600 total yards of full-stroke fly:
Breathing every stroke has a negative impact on my body position
I can help that by kicking harder
The additional oxygen that I get from all the extra breathing helps fuel the harder kicking, but it seems like I'm working harder overall (higher perceived pulse rate at the end of each swim, but I didn't actually measure it)
Stroke counts and times are about the same
So I think I've found a useful drill to make me kick harder, but I doubt I'll be trying this in a race anytime soon. Has anyone else (who hasn't always swum fly this way) messed around with breathing every stroke in fly? What were your findings?
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Former Member
After 2 competitions, the verdict is in. I'm slower when I breathe every stroke. I've made the switch back to breathing every other stroke.
I don't know if 2 competitions is enough to determine a verdict with a change in routine. When making changes, it usually takes a while to adapt to them.
I ALWAYS swim slower during the first several months after making a change to stroke mechanics
After 2 competitions, the verdict is in. I'm slower when I breathe every stroke. I've made the switch back to breathing every other stroke.
I don't know if 2 competitions is enough to determine a verdict with a change in routine. When making changes, it usually takes a while to adapt to them.
I ALWAYS swim slower during the first several months after making a change to stroke mechanics
