Do You Struggle with Side Breathing During Your Swim Workouts?

The skill of being capable of side breathing or not, usually separates the struggling beginner swimmer from those that swim in comfort. Breathing has that affect upon the wet set.

Although it’s called “side breathing”, it really should be called “slightly looking back” breathing.

To start with, we want to reduce any amount of drag (resistance) that makes us work harder, and slows us down. Our goal is to swim as level as possible head to toe. Allow the side of your head (ear), to remain in the water while you rotate your head. Don’t lift your head, like a teeter-totter; your feet will drop faster than you can say “cannon ball”.

Roll your head to take your breath. Keeping your spine aligned, just rotate your head and look back in a 45-degree angle. By doing this, the small wake created by your foreword progress will move behind you, not find a home in your mouth.

Expel about 95 % of your air supply underwater, through your nose, but save the remaining 5% to expel while you are rotating your head. With the short amount of time that your face is actually out of the water, you want to use to breathe deeply through your mouth

Lastly, the longer the pull, the bigger the breath you’ll receive. Relax, you’re on your way to being more comfortable in the water, and lookin’ like the fish you always wanted to be.

Written by Dan Lavin
Aquatics Director, Seattle Athletic Club Northgate

View the Seattle Athletic Club YouTube Channel
Become a Fan on Facebook