Too little air or choking when crawl or breaststroke swimming? The mistake is usually not in the inhalation, but in the exhalation. @ Regina Senften / NZZ /June 2019

As breathing in the water cannot be involuntary and reflexive, swimmers must actively control their inhalation and exhalation in order to avoid unpleasant or dangerous situations.

Breathing out is the key factor in swimming if you want to cover longer distances without shortness of breath and choking. It is important to exhale the used air enriched with carbon dioxide so that the lungs can absorb fresh air with oxygen and pass it on to the blood and thus to the muscles.

Because the time in which the mouth is above water to inhale is too short to both inhale and exhale, exhalation in the crawl, breaststroke and dolphin swims must take place under water. In backstroke, where the face is always above the water, breathing is not a problem if the technique is correct.

50 meters without breathing

When swimming in a prone position, it is generally recommended to exhale evenly through your slightly open mouth and nose; like blowing into a hot cup of tea to cool the drink. If you feel more comfortable at the beginning, you can also just breathe out through your nose, which then feels like a soundless humming under water.

Regardless of which form of exhalation you prefer, it is crucial that no large quantities of used air remain in your lungs. If you never exhale completely while swimming and at the same time regularly take in fresh air, you will feel close to suffocation after a short time – because the carbon dioxide level rises. The physical properties of water make this even more difficult: the high density means that you have to exhale against the resistance of the water, which is initially perceived as strenuous and unfamiliar.

The position and rhythm of breathing depend on the type of swimming. Crawl, breaststroke and dolphin swimmers exhale when the head is in the water in line with the spine. They look straight down.

In breaststroke, the rules of the World Swimming Federation require that the head breaks through the surface of the water with every arm stroke. In practical terms, this means that while bending your arms, you inhale facing the direction of swimming and exhale into the water when your arms, head and body are in the stretching and gliding phase and your legs are together.

As the federation does not prescribe a breathing rhythm, many top dolphin swimmers do not breathe once in the 50 m competition.

The breathing position in dolphin swimming is similarly forward-facing. However, as the federation does not prescribe a breathing rhythm, many top dolphin swimmers do not breathe once in the 50 m competition. Adopting the breathing position requires a lot of strength and forces you to leave the most streamlined stretch position. Amateur swimmers are recommended to use the “two-breath rhythm” for the dolphin: one arm stroke with inhalation, one arm stroke without.

Practicing in shallow water

The crawl is different: Here you breathe to the side, preferably in a triple rhythm. One arm stroke with breathing to the right side is followed by two arm strokes with exhalation into the water before a third arm stroke to the left side is combined with oxygen intake.

Central to this is that the head remains in line with the spine during side breathing. It therefore does not bend, but simply turns to the side with a rotation in the upper body, with one temple in the water. If you only breathe to one side, you risk irregularities in your movements, which can lead to tension or inefficient evasive movements.

To consolidate the different breathing rhythms and positions, it is worth practising statically until the air exchange becomes automatic. To do this, stand in belly-button deep water and practise breathing in combination with arm pulls: Crawlers exhale into the water while slowly counting to three before inhaling briefly and forcefully in a lateral position.

Breaststroke and dolphin swimmers shorten to one or two counts when exhaling. If you manage to perform these sequences over several minutes in the desired rhythm and without swallowing, you can now move to the horizontal position and practise the overall movement with the leg kick.

Fins are a good aid

Swimming with “motor” swimming fins is an aid that provides valuable services to both beginners and advanced athletes. They are sometimes referred to somewhat disparagingly as a “motor” for swimmers, as they make propulsion almost effortless and allow you to cover long distances effortlessly. However, it is precisely this fact that gives beginners great advantages when learning elementary swimming movements such as the crawl arm stroke and leg stroke, side breathing, dolphin wave and back crawl.

With fins, economical leg kicks are enough to move forward smoothly and experience a favorable, high water position. Practicing technical details is easy and feels much more comfortable than with a regular leg kick, as the large muscles in the legs consume less oxygen and breathing becomes less rapid. Ideally, fins are used by beginners to practise specific technical movements until the swimming style is in rough shape.

Advanced athletes also use fins frequently. On the one hand, they do this to complete high-intensity units in overpace and thus economize the entire movement sequence at high speed. On the other hand, fins are used by ambitious athletes as a power element: the stronger the leg kick with fins, the greater the water resistance and the required power input. Fins are also valuable when it comes to taking the strain off the shoulders.

While trained swimmers can in principle use all types and shapes of fins – hard, soft, long, short, square, round, wedge-shaped – beginners should focus primarily on soft, straight, possibly round fin blades that do not put too much strain on the knee and ankle joints. A length of around ten to thirty centimetres is recommended. The longer the fin blade, the more thrust, but also the greater the risk of cramps. Land-based fins are all suitable for the leg stroke in dolphin, back crawl and crawl style. If you are looking for fins specifically for breaststroke swimming, you will have to search the internet and buy so-called breaststroke fins in foreign swimming stores. @ Regina Senften / NZZ /June 2019

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