Learn to breathe efficiently and swimming will be faster and more comfortable.
Humans are born knowing breathe; the problem comes when you must do so while lying face-down in 4 feet of water. Next time you're at the pool, look at the other swimmers. Their creative solutions to the problem of breathe while swimming freestyle often have a negative (and comical) effect on stroke efficiency. Learning to incorporate breathing into a seamless freestyle will make swimming faster feel easier.
Stroke Mechanics
Novice swimmers typically breathe by lifting their heads out of the water (to the side or front), causing their hips to drop. When hips drop, the surface area you must push through the water becomes larger, and swimming becomes harder. The key to fast, easy swimming is to roll from side to side. An effective body roll engages your larger core muscles rather than the smaller muscles in your arms and shoulders. It also means that a leisurely breath only requires turning your head a few degrees. The sidekick, shark fin, one-arm, fingertip drag and six-count drills will help you master body roll (see "Resources" below for instructions on do these drills). Drills should be easy so you can concentrate on your form. If you are fighting just to stay afloat, wear training fins until you can comfortably swim the drills without them.
Breathe Bilaterally
Breathing to both sides irons out bad stroke mechanics. When Terry Laughlin, founder of Total Immersion Swimming, noticed that his swimmers at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy swam lopsided freestyle, he told them to breathe to their "wrong" side. "Instantly, every stroke was more symmetrical," Laughlin explains. "Lacking a history of practicing bad habits, each swimmer's less-natural breathing side was actually more efficient." Practice breathing on your "wrong" side during warm-up, warm-down and slow sets. As you improve, incorporate three-stroke breathing (breathing on alternate sides).
Focus on Exhaling
New swimmers often hold their breaths while their faces are underwater. No wonder they feel like they're drowning. There just isn't enough time to exhale and take a giant gulp of air before it's time to put your face back in the water. Novice swimmers crane their necks in all kinds of speed-sucking ways to keep their mouths above water longer--and cut their exhales short to gulp still more air. Getting enough air is not the problem, though. The average person only uses a third of the oxygen he inhales, exhaling the rest. A lack of oxygen doesn't leave you feeling breathless; instead, the culprit is the carbon dioxide build-up in your bloodstream. Concentrate on blowing all your air out underwater, then taking a relaxed breath rather than gasping forcefully when your mouth clears the water. The harder you swim, the more you should focus on your exhale. Laughlin suggests blowing the last 20 percent of your breath much harder than the first 80 percent. This will expel any extra carbon dioxide lurking in your lungs and create a vacuum, meaning you will inhale naturally and effortlessly. Practice exhaling forcefully in your next workout, and you'll be surprised at how comfortable fast swimming feels.
Tags: body roll, carbon dioxide, hips drop, Novice swimmers, rather than, wrong side
