Every swimmer knows that bilateral breathing is a good skill to have. But is it something you should be doing 100% of the time or is more relevant to certain situations?
Contrary to many new swimmers’ belief, 3 stroke breathing is NOT the norm for a competitive swimmer. Any breathing pattern above 3 (eg 4 or 5 stroke breathing) is merely just a drill and not something you should be aiming to hold in all of your swimming.
Ever been told that you need to be breathing every 3 strokes? Well I’m sure most of you have at some point, but it is only relevant for a few reasons on a few occasions – three of these are:
(1) Where you need to adjust your rhythm to slightly longer between breaths – useful when practising a new skill or refining part of your stroke which needs attention.
(2) There may be situations where you need to breathe to the side in which you’re not dominant, eg visually spotting your competition halfway through a race so they don’t sneak past you.
(3) Stress testing your technique – try doing an 800m swim holding your normal low stroke count with a 3,5,7,2 (breathing pattern per 25m) and see what happens to your form. A good swimmer will maintain, but endure a headache afterwards. A poor swimmer will rush rush rush
Try this validation test sometime – search YouTube for any elite freestyle race and you’ll discover very quickly that it’s a tough ask finding any competitor doing anything other than breathing every 2 strokes. At the heart of your power system is energy and without air this will shut down pretty quickly. It’s a quick calculation that tells you there is 50% more oxygen involved with 2 stroke breathing as opposed to 3 and this is why in any race that is longer than 100m you will almost exclusively see 2 stroke breathing being employed by those who are the best in this game we call swimming.
But what about when you’re swimming easily, ie how about 3 stroke breathing at a lower intensity? Well even here, 2 stroke breathing will win as well. If your goal is to build an efficient stroke, then you’ll need a low enough stroke cadence required to glide and that will lengthen the time between each breath. Good form at an easy pace also needs a minimum amount of intensity, and that increases energy ie. air consumption. Without the right amount of air for the technique you want to maintain, you will most likely become reactive and let your form deteriorate.
The central issue regarding whether or not 3 stroke breathing is right for you is skill level – when you are learning, it is more than likely that your breathing position is more of a lift than a roll. If this is happening, then by executing fewer breathing positions the cost / benefit ratio may be worth it for you. But as your body position and skill level in the water improves, there will come a time where 2 stroke breathing will need to become your go-to pattern. As you become that technically adept swimmer you want to be, then taking a breath frequently won’t appreciably impact on your drag profile because your technique involved in gaining the air is correct.
So the lessons for improving your swimming are – start by dedicating yourself to perfecting a body position required to breathe easily, then start breathing every 2 strokes more of the time, and finally use that extra air and energy to lengthen your glide by pausing with a firmer effort.
More air = more energy so if you can get it without causing drag and also hold a better form because of it, then you win.
Happy laps everyone!!
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