Breathing out during swimming freestyle? - Project Sports
Nederlands | English | Deutsch | Türkçe | Tiếng Việt

Project Sports

Questions and answers about sports

Breathing out during swimming freestyle?

3 min read

Asked by: Heidi Martinez

How do you exhale while swimming freestyle?


And then blow a steady stream of air out from either your nose or mouth as you rotate your body away from that extended arm turn your head a little further until your mouth breaks the surface.

Where do you breathe when you swim in freestyle?

Rule: Coordinate your strokes with your breathing. Drill: While standing in the shallow end with your head in the water, take a few practice stationary strokes, using your arms and repeating bubble, bubble, breathe on right side; bubble, bubble, breathe on left side.

Should you breathe out while swimming?

When your face is submerged in water, you should be breathing out gently and bubbles should come out of your mouth or nose. Breathe In – Most swimmers breath in through their mouth. This action should be quick and last only a second.

When swimming freestyle you should not breathe to the side?

Most swimmers prefer breathing on one side, but it helps to practice bilateral breathing: breathing on both sides. You can work on breathing on your non-dominant side by breathing every 3 strokes or 5 strokes during your warm up or during specific sets during your workouts.

Should you breathe every stroke in freestyle?

Many swim coaches and swimmers believe that breathing every cycle in freestyle swimming is as good as it gets with respect to respiratory rate, but that is not true. A swimmer can learn, and particularly with a low-profile breathing technique, to breathe consecutively to both sides.

How is proper breathing executed in a freestyle stroke?

To breathe, the swimmer turns his head to the side during the arm recovery until his mouth is above the water surface. The swimmer inhales quickly and then turns his head back down. The exhalation begins as soon as the mouth is under the water surface again and continues until the next breathing arm recovery.

What are the five biggest mistakes of the swimmers in freestyle?

Polish Your Freestyle Swimming Technique – Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes

  • Mistake #1: Head position. …
  • Mistake #2: Arm extension and pull. …
  • Mistake #3: Body rotation. …
  • Mistake #4: Kick. …
  • Mistake #5: Breathing.


Do Olympic swimmers breathe bilaterally?

Of the thousands of swimmers who have come to The Race Club, we have found that a very high percentage of them are being taught to breathe to both sides in freestyle, often referred to as bilateral breathing. Observing elite freestylers of both genders, one finds very few of them ever breathe to both sides.

Why do Olympic swimmers breathe on one side?

Helps to develop a symmetrical and balanced stroke with equal power on both sides, reducing chance of shoulder injury. Helps to swim straight in open water races and keeps options open – e.g. breathing away from swell, keeping eye on competitors.

Does Michael Phelps breathe bilaterally?

And when he comes back he'll breathe on his right side for 25 meters so that he's getting symmetry in the breathing.

Should you breathe every 2 or 3 strokes?

Breathe every two strokes—one second inhale, one second exhale. The regularity feeds oxygen to your body consistently, allowing your body to perform more efficiently and for much longer.