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Writer's pictureAlison Smith

Are you breathing properly to swim smoother??

Updated: Oct 2

Having spent a few sessions coaching the slower lanes of our Club @Hillingdontriathletes recently, I have spent a lot of time working with athletes on their breathing. Many new swimmers say that they feel like they are getting out of breath when swimming.


This might not be due to lack of swimming fitness, or being unable to get enough air in, but simply not getting enough air OUT. If you are holding your breath underwater, or blasting it out too quickly, you may be creating a cycle of breathlessness.


Very few novice swimmers exhale properly into the water and all intermediate swimmers think they are exhaling correctly - at least, that's what they say when we ask them. Do they? Very few do.


Even amongst advanced swimmers, quite a few like to hold onto their breath under the water.


Getting your exhalation right will make freestyle feel much easier, get you balanced in the water and as a bonus, make you more relaxed whilst swimming.


So, how can you learn to be more relaxed when you are swimming?


Its not about gliding more, or taking less strokes. You need to learn to breath better.


This sink down drill is an ideal way to start.




Key Points

  • Breathe out through your nose or mouth or both, whichever is most comfortable

  • Exhale constantly and gently, like a big sigh at the end of a stressful day

  • Stay relaxed and floppy

  • When you get to the tipping point let your body sink to the bottom of the pool

  • Practice breathing more air out to get to that tipping point more quickly

  • Take in the beautiful underwater surroundings!

  • Repeat the sink down three times, each time you resurface take a quick breath in and breathe out straight away

  • Now you’re breathing as you would in freestyle- either in or out and never holding your breath


When you are swimming you should always be exhaling except when you turn your head to inhale


You can exhale through your mouth or through your nose or through both, it doesn't matter. But when your face is in the water you should be exhaling all the time in one constant stream of bubbles.


Now you have done the sink downs, go and practice it in your normal freeqyle swimming and see the difference - swimmers do report feeling mroe 'relaxed'!


Here are some reasons why we at Swim Smooth say it is important to exhale constantly

1) The most important reason is that when you hold your breath you tense up. When you breathe out you release that tension. Imagine you're having a stressful day and someone tells you to take a deep breath - it's not when you take the breath in that you feel better, it's when you let it go. Holding your breath tenses you up and that affects your swimming technique.


2) When you are holding your breath you can feel that you need to breathe. The sensation you are feeling is not the lack of oxygen, it's the build up of CO2. By holding your breath you are keeping the CO2 in your blood stream and lungs - this makes you feel desperate for air. Breathing out constantly while you swim feels much nicer - you get rid of the CO2 and no longer feel so desperate for air.


3) Having lungs full of air is bad for your body position - your chest is too buoyant. Since your body acts like a see saw around your centre, this causes your legs to sink in the water, creating extra drag.


4) Most swimmers try to exhale just before they turn their head to breathe - or even worse, try and exhale and inhale in the short window when their mouth is above the waterline! This is a really hard thing to do, each breath feels snatched and panicky. If you breathe late like this, the tendency is to lift your head to breathe to give yourself a bit more time. Lifting your head is bad swimming technique, it causes your legs to sink - adding lots of drag.



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