Distance Freestyle Breathing

My unexperienced humble opinion is maybe they breath every stroke rather than every 1.5 strokes (bilateral), as you, because they are going slightly faster and require more O2. Since you are pacing and not requiring as much O2 you end up hyperventilating with a 1per 1 pattern - lightheadedness? This is true and it's been documented this way. However, in certain events (or maybe in all events I don't know), stroke balance isn't something a swimmer wants to achieve. It's also been documented that unilateral breathers use both arms in a slightly different manner. The stroke is not symmetrical. Each arm becomes specialized in its role. Usually, more propulsion comes from the breathing side arm and the non breathing side arm works little differently. A sticking example of this is shown in the clip where Phelps gets beaten on the 200 by this German sensation. On the last 50, Phelps doesn't even breathe (every 2) on the side that would have allowed to see his opponent. Could be a mistake, could also be that he knew he wasn't maybe going to be as fast if switching roles for his 2 arms by breathing the other side. I've suffered this issue for ever. Even today, when I breathe right, I loose half a stroke per 25m (and the time this half a stroke represents), unless I really make more effort keeping DPS constant. (I always count - or at least am aware of my stroke count, hence the fact that I could discover this for myself) That said, I try to work on each side all the time, in almost every set.

My unexperienced humble opinion is maybe they breath every stroke rather than every 1.5 strokes (bilateral), as you, because they are going slightly faster and require more O2. Since you are pacing and not requiring as much O2 you end up hyperventilating with a 1per 1 pattern - lightheadedness? This is true and it's been documented this way. However, in certain events (or maybe in all events I don't know), stroke balance isn't something a swimmer wants to achieve. It's also been documented that unilateral breathers use both arms in a slightly different manner. The stroke is not symmetrical. Each arm becomes specialized in its role. Usually, more propulsion comes from the breathing side arm and the non breathing side arm works little differently. A sticking example of this is shown in the clip where Phelps gets beaten on the 200 by this German sensation. On the last 50, Phelps doesn't even breathe (every 2) on the side that would have allowed to see his opponent. Could be a mistake, could also be that he knew he wasn't maybe going to be as fast if switching roles for his 2 arms by breathing the other side. I've suffered this issue for ever. Even today, when I breathe right, I loose half a stroke per 25m (and the time this half a stroke represents), unless I really make more effort keeping DPS constant. (I always count - or at least am aware of my stroke count, hence the fact that I could discover this for myself) That said, I try to work on each side all the time, in almost every set.