The Backstroke Lane

Anyone have any good advice on breathing patterns for backstroke? Is it best to try for breathe in on one armstroke (left arm), and out on the next armstroke (right arm) ??? Gary Hall Sr. suggests breathing once per stroke (twice per cycle), but Chris "Hung in the Lung" Stevenson breathes but once per cycle. I guess it's swimmer's choice. As a mammal, I have a peculiar fondness for air. I breathe twice per cycle. Based on recent responses it seems that many -- most? -- breathe twice per cycle and I find that a little interesting because it is contrary to the common practice in the other strokes. Back vs free is the best comparison; nobody labels someone "hung in the lung" for breathing once per stroke cycle in free. :) In fact, as someone who was an age-grouper in the 70s and early-80s, and had the "breathe every 3rd stroke" rule pounded into me, breathing every other arm pull (ie, once per cycle) in freestyle feels almost like cheating. I keep expecting a coach to yell at me about it after my races... So why the difference with backstroke? Following Gary Hall's advice in freestyle, I tried to breathe more often (eg, 3 times every 2 cycles) in free and I honestly can't feel like I'm really using the extra air. I get the same feeling in backstroke but I guess I'm in the minority. The only thing I can think of is that stroke rates in backstroke are distinctly lower than in freestyle so maybe it is more natural or efficient to breathe twice/cycle? Since I think breathing every other arm pull is almost certainly the cause of my own "loping" backstroke style (and probably that of many freestylers), I may play around with different breathing patters on sprint backstrokes to see if I can get my stroke rate up (b/c I think my SR is too low when I sprint backstroke).

Anyone have any good advice on breathing patterns for backstroke? Is it best to try for breathe in on one armstroke (left arm), and out on the next armstroke (right arm) ??? Gary Hall Sr. suggests breathing once per stroke (twice per cycle), but Chris "Hung in the Lung" Stevenson breathes but once per cycle. I guess it's swimmer's choice. As a mammal, I have a peculiar fondness for air. I breathe twice per cycle. Based on recent responses it seems that many -- most? -- breathe twice per cycle and I find that a little interesting because it is contrary to the common practice in the other strokes. Back vs free is the best comparison; nobody labels someone "hung in the lung" for breathing once per stroke cycle in free. :) In fact, as someone who was an age-grouper in the 70s and early-80s, and had the "breathe every 3rd stroke" rule pounded into me, breathing every other arm pull (ie, once per cycle) in freestyle feels almost like cheating. I keep expecting a coach to yell at me about it after my races... So why the difference with backstroke? Following Gary Hall's advice in freestyle, I tried to breathe more often (eg, 3 times every 2 cycles) in free and I honestly can't feel like I'm really using the extra air. I get the same feeling in backstroke but I guess I'm in the minority. The only thing I can think of is that stroke rates in backstroke are distinctly lower than in freestyle so maybe it is more natural or efficient to breathe twice/cycle? Since I think breathing every other arm pull is almost certainly the cause of my own "loping" backstroke style (and probably that of many freestylers), I may play around with different breathing patters on sprint backstrokes to see if I can get my stroke rate up (b/c I think my SR is too low when I sprint backstroke).