4 Breathing Techniques For Swimming: How To Breathe When Swimming

Are you feeling out of breath while swimming? One of the major differences between swimming and other exercise is learning how to breathe in water. As humans, we’re land-based creatures. Our ability to breathe when swimming does not come naturally.

It’s no surprise that our breathing technique can result in sloppy and slower strokes. Competitive swimmers resort to breathing quickly, every other stroke, and instead of focusing on their race strategy, they scramble for precious oxygen.

Having a range of go-to breathing techniques for swimming can be a huge asset during those challenging workouts. It will make you feel more confident in your swimming ability. Here are our tried and tested breathing techniques for swimming:

How to Breathe When Swimming

1) Blow Bubbles

No, seriously. Blowing bubbles is a great underwater breathing technique. This technique is not reserved for children, though it does help them. The most common mistake that swimmers make is to hold their breath while underwater. It’s a pretty natural reaction, as you don’t want to swallow water, but you must resist the urge. Holding your breath underwater will result in you breathing outward between strokes, as you desperately attempt to get oxygen to your lungs.

The solution to this is pretty simple, though strange to comprehend. Instead of holding your breath underwater, exhale – blow bubbles. Another way to exhale underwater is to gently hum, which doesn’t expel quite as much air. Next time you’re in the water, test this trick out for yourself.

2) Create a Bow Wave

It’s common to keep your head above water in an attempt to catch your breath. Unfortunately, doing so lifts the top half of the body and dips the legs and feet, which creates huge amounts of drag. To stop your head sinking and for a smooth stroke, learn to master the bow wave.

What is a bow wave?

Good question. Picture a boat moving through the water. It creates a ripple effect at the front of the vessel, where the water parts. Your body does the same thing when swimming at speed. This opens up a small trough next to your neck where you can breathe. The trough area is a lot lower than most swimmers expect. This means that you don’t have to lift your head to inhale. You simply tilt your head to the side into the trough, with one goggle in the water, and inhale before returning to your starting position.

3) Keep your head still

Whatever you do with your head when swimming, the rest of your body will follow. It’s common for swimmers to jerk their head in an attempt to breathe quickly between strokes. As the heart rate increases, so does your oxygen consumption and, therefore, levels of stress and anxiety. Movement of any part of your body will increase your heart rate and with it oxygen. As above, your head should only move slowly to the side when breathing in what’s called a bow wave. The key is breathing while swimming is relaxation.

4) Breathe through your nose

Breathing through the nose while swimming allows you to continue your stroke, without having to alter your position drastically. Exhaling through your nose reduces the chance of you swallowing a wave of water, while also creating less drag and improving stamina. To exhale through your nose, keep your body straight and your head forward. Allow a stream of bubbles to release from your nostrils as you push forward.

One struggle people have with this breathing technique for swimming is a lack of air. Unfortunately, it’s much harder to expel air from your lungs with this method. A combination of breathing through your nose and mouth allows you to breathe more heavily.

Swimming Breathing Techniques

Learning how to breathe when swimming helps you swim faster and makes you more comfortable and confident. With just a little practice, it’s possible to master these breathing techniques, without it distracting from the enjoyment your swim.

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