On freestyle, I generally try to breathe bi-laterally every 3 strokes, and begin my exhale as soon as my head enters the water.
However, sometimes when I am doing sprints or laps with little rest in between, I find myself holding my breath instead of beginning the exhale immediately. When I do this it feels that my body is able to get more oxygen.
Its seems like my body is craving oxygen, and beginning the exhale immediately gets rid of some of that precious oxygen before I have a chance to process it.
Of course, I realize that delaying the start of my exhale means that I will get able to get more fresh air on the next inhalation, unless I can manage to get rid of all my air very quickly (which seems impossible).
So is it best to just force myself to keep the same breathing pattern (every 3 strokes with exhale starting immediately), even when I am feeling tired or out of oxygen? Or are there times when it is safe, or even better, to hold my breath for at least a second before beginning the exhalation? Maybe at the end of a race (or timed lap)?
I asked Paul Trevisan, a sprinter in my age group (55-59) who holds a number of world records, how many breaths he takes when swimming a 50. His answer: none.
On the other hand, Dara Torres, who I interviewed a few years back, told me she breathes almost every stroke on a 50.
I think the bottom line here is that a world class 50 happens in such little time that the oxygen you inhale during the swim is not going to reach your muscles in time to do any good whatsoever during the race (and in fact much of the energy fueling the swim is anaerobic anyhow, which means you don't really even need oxygen to contract your muscles.)
Dara's stroke is so incredibly smooth that breathing doesn't seem to affect her speed negatively.
Paul also has a really nice stroke, but he feels that any unnecessary head movements detract from his fastest performance, so he guts it out without air.
Most sprinters subscribe to the latter philosophy, at least for 50s, and breathe as little as possible during a race.
I try to go no breaths down, one breath back, but Jeff Roddin suggested sneaking a breath before the turn, which reduces the reflex "need" to take a breath off the wall.
It works for me.
Now I take one breath down, do the turn, take as many strokes as possible, maybe sneak in a breath, maybe not.
Plenty of time to inhale when the race is over.
I asked Paul Trevisan, a sprinter in my age group (55-59) who holds a number of world records, how many breaths he takes when swimming a 50. His answer: none.
On the other hand, Dara Torres, who I interviewed a few years back, told me she breathes almost every stroke on a 50.
I think the bottom line here is that a world class 50 happens in such little time that the oxygen you inhale during the swim is not going to reach your muscles in time to do any good whatsoever during the race (and in fact much of the energy fueling the swim is anaerobic anyhow, which means you don't really even need oxygen to contract your muscles.)
Dara's stroke is so incredibly smooth that breathing doesn't seem to affect her speed negatively.
Paul also has a really nice stroke, but he feels that any unnecessary head movements detract from his fastest performance, so he guts it out without air.
Most sprinters subscribe to the latter philosophy, at least for 50s, and breathe as little as possible during a race.
I try to go no breaths down, one breath back, but Jeff Roddin suggested sneaking a breath before the turn, which reduces the reflex "need" to take a breath off the wall.
It works for me.
Now I take one breath down, do the turn, take as many strokes as possible, maybe sneak in a breath, maybe not.
Plenty of time to inhale when the race is over.
