Including, do you really need bilateral breathing?

I’ve had a few conversations with swimmers recently where they’ve said something like, “I just need to master bilateral breathing, and then I’ll be fine.” There’s an idea floating around that to improve at front crawl, you need to be able to breathe both sides.

It’s false.

That’s not to say that bilateral breathing isn’t a useful skill to learn.

It is.

But it won’t automatically make you stronger, faster or more efficient.

There are several reasons teachers and coaches might encourage you to breathe bilaterally: it can improve symmetry in your stroke, help you fix technique weaknesses linked to breathing, and allow you to keep an eye on competitors on both sides.

In open water, being able to breathe on either side can be helpful for navigation, keeping track of other swimmers around you, and offers versatility to help you cope with challenging conditions.

Yet many elite swimmers do not use bilateral breathing consistently in races, especially at higher intensities. So why do so many learners think it is essential?

It looks good

One reason is that there are a few videos on the internet of top-level swimmers breathing bilaterally and looking smooth and graceful in the water. These are often held up as examples of (near) perfect swimming. Moreover, breathing both sides and achieving symmetry is intuitively appealing.

But bilateral breathing comes with a big downside: you get less air into your lungs. Breathing every three strokes gives you fewer chances to take in air than breathing every two, which can limit oxygen availability as intensity rises. Aside from very short sprints, all swimming has an aerobic component; not getting enough air will hit performance. Proponents of bilateral breathing might argue that you don’t need to breathe every three strokes but could do, say, one length breathing to the left and the next to the right. Ian Thorpe often used this approach on his way to Olympic gold – but he’s an exception.

Most swimmers, even the very fastest, have one breathing side that’s more comfortable than the other – often despite years of practice. The timing works better, the catch is neater, the flow is smoother. Those differences are enough to negate any of the proposed benefits of bilateral breathing in intense race environments.

For them, and for me, and quite possibly for you, it’s therefore easier, faster and more sustainable to breathe to the side that works best. In my experience, regardless of the conditions, in races, breathing to my left is best.

If you can get your less-comfortable side breathing to a level where you can use it in an event, then you will find times when it’s useful. But it is very rare to be disadvantaged by not being able to.

When to practice?

Given the above, for most people, I recommend viewing bilateral breathing as a useful exercise – something to do in training to help improve other aspects of your technique – not as a goal in itself.

Can I make one thing very clear: You are not failing at swimming if you cannot breathe bilaterally.

Breathing every 4 strokes – or more!

Elite swimmers in longer freestyle events often breathe every two strokes for much of the race. Only sprinters truly keep their heads down for multiple strokes. On the other hand, recreational adult swimmers often do, even on long open water swims.

I get that breathing disrupts your stroke. You often see the lead arm drifting wide or dropping without getting hold of the water when people breathe. Many people lift their head to breathe or turn too much. These things slow you down.

The solution, however, is not to breathe less often. Rather, you need to improve how you breathe so it causes less disruption to your stroke. Instead of breathing less, work on drills and exercises to correct those faults that cause you to lose speed when you breathe.

The response I typically get from suggesting this is sometimes: “I’m fine – I don’t need more air.”

This might be true at low intensities – and I know that some people only ever want to swim at low intensity. But if you truly want to get faster, you will need to increase the effort level. This, in turn, will boost your body’s demand for oxygen. If you restrict it by breathing less than is optimal, you will cap your top speed.

Keep your head down after turns

The origins of this idea are related to those above. You reach your maximum speed through the water after starts and turns. Breathing disrupts your stroke. The sooner you breathe, the sooner you’ll slow down.

In a race, every one hundredth of a second can matter. If doing your first few strokes without breathing saves you time, you should – as long as you don’t pay for it down the line.

And I think this is where people go wrong. They see elites racing like this and assume it’s faster.

But watch elites in longer races. The longer the race, the more likely you are to see them breathe as soon as they surface. Oxygen is essential to sustained fast swimming. There are trade-offs, and you need to work out what suits you best.

By all means, practice not breathing off the walls for sprint races. But don’t think it’s something you need to do all the time. Mostly, you’re better off ensuring that breathing causes minimal interference to your technique, and then breathing as much as you need to sustain your speed.

Oxygen is important for your swimming. Some misconceptions about breathing might result in you not getting enough of it for optimum performance. In most cases, you will be better off learning to breathe well on one side rather than struggling to master bilateral breathing or keeping your head down for extended periods. Use bilateral breathing or reduced frequency breathing in training and to practice specific skills – but don’t think you need to master these things to achieve your swimming goals and dreams.

Turning theory into stronger swimming

Breathing is just one area in swimming where misconceptions are common. One of my goals with the Renaissance Swimmer Club is to help you understand what is helpful to your swimming, and what isn’t – and how to put those ideas into practice. If you’d like support doing that in your own swimming, join us in the Renaissance Swimmer Club.