Front Crawl Technique Gets Me Out of Breath

I would like some swimming advice as my front crawl technique gets me out of breath. I've been active all my life. I've run and cycled for many years. I am 56 yrs old. I recently took up swimming even though I thought I could swim well. I can go two laps in a 25-meter pool and then slap out of breath but not physically tired. I exhale under water and rotate to get a breath every 3 strokes. If I make sure my head is under the water looking down, my hips come up, but it's much harder for me to rotate to take a breath every 3rd stroke. My technique appears to be the problem. What can I do to be successful in the pool swim laps to enter a triathlon?

There are a couple of points to consider about your freestyle swimming technique.

Firstly regarding your head position as you swim, your head should not be under the water completely as this does indeed cause your hips to rise. Your face should be in the water with eyes looking down and slightly forwards. The back of your head should remain out of the water, and this will allow your body position to remain level.

Secondly, you rotate your head to breathe every 3rd stroke, which is an efficient and correct breathing pattern. However, you must accept that your breathing pattern must change at some point during your swim, and the point at which it changes will depend on your level of swimming stamina.

As a runner and a cyclist, you have a decent level of fitness, however, swimming requires a larger number of muscles to work simultaneously. Those muscles then work in a way that initially calls upon different energy systems to those of running and cycling. Those energy systems are unconditioned compared to running and cycling, which is most likely why you are out of breath after a relatively short period of time.

It is, for this reason, your breathing pattern must change from a 3-stroke pattern to breathing every stroke. Taking a breath every stroke makes breathing over a long distance easier and therefore makes swimming with the correct and efficient technique more sustainable.

The point at which you switch to breathing every stroke will depend on your swimming fitness, and that alone will increase the more time you spend and the distance you complete in the pool. You might change to breathing every stroke after 50 metres, settle into a steady pace and swim comfortably for a long time after that. You may even be able to switch back to breathing every 3 strokes for a short time.

Experiment with different breathing patterns, and combined with an efficient stroke technique, you will find yourself swimming longer distances without getting too breathless.

The best long-distance swimmers and triathletes breathe every stroke as this is the most manageable breathing pattern.

My ebook How To Swim Front Crawl contains over 20 separate swimming exercises to help all parts of freestyle, including breathing. You can download it, print out the parts you need and take them to your pool to try out. Click the link below for more information.

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HOW TO SWIM FRONT CRAWL EBOOK:  everything you need to master front crawl swimming stroke. 22 easy drills that focus on each part of front crawl technique. From body position to breathing and timing. Decades of teaching experience all packaged into 1 easy file. Download to your device and master front crawl TODAY! (click here for an instant preview). 

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Front Crawl Breathing Difficult

I am finding front crawl breathing difficult. I am a beginner, and I have recently tried to do the front crawl, but am having a hard time with it. I would like to get better at it and be able to breathe all throughout without feeling that I will sink!

The feeling that you are going to sink could be caused either by your legs beginning to sink behind you or by you becoming breathless due to the exertion of the swimming stroke, or a combination of both.

The key to easy swimming is to relax into the stroke, which is easy to say and not so easy to do when you are a beginner learning to swim!

Begin learning front crawl by practising a ‘push and glide’. This exercise establishes the correct body position and teaches you how your body can move efficiently through the water.

The key to good push and glide is to get your arms and hands out in front from the start, keep your head tucked down between your arms and then the magic ingredient to all swimming – relax.

If your stroke is not relaxed, your movements will become disjointed and robot-like, and the heaviest parts of your body, usually the legs, will begin to sink.

To learn how to become more relaxed in the water, you must become more confident, and to achieve this, you must practice breathing and submerging.

Standing in the water of about shoulder depth, hold your breath and submerge under the water keeping your feet on the pool floor. As you become more confident, try submerging and taking your feet up off the pool floor.

Once you have practised arm and leg techniques for front crawl, go back to your push and glide. Push off and glide for a short time, then add your arms and legs but swim slowly at first.

Breathe out under the water and turn your head to
breathe in again whenever you need to. There is no right or wrong time to breathe but ensure your arm has pulled back to make room for your head to turn.

If you continue to swim in a slow, relaxed way, you will find that you are able to swim longer distances using fewer strokes and, therefore less energy.

Over time your stamina and fitness will increase and bring your front crawl to a new level.

My ebook How To Swim Front Crawl contains over 20 separate swimming exercises to help all parts of front crawl, including breathing. It is perfect for beginners. You can download it, print out the parts you need and take them to your pool to try out. Click the link below for more information.

How To Swim Front Crawl

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