This post gave me a ton of inspiration, knowledge and motivation. I was (am) having the same problem as you did when you started. I'll refer to this thread often.

Thanks.

klehner wrote:

I gather that is 11 strokes, counting a single arm: either right or left, but not both? So you are really averaging about 22 strokes (counting both arms) per 25 (if you are really only taking 11 total arm strokes per length, then you are doing a hypoxic swim!). If you are breathing every 5 strokes, then you are getting only about 4 breaths per length, and you are breathing every 6-7 seconds. Try breathing every 6-7 seconds on your next run, and see how far you get. If you are breathing every 3 strokes, that is still only 7 breaths per length, and a breath every 4 seconds. Still way too little breathing. I'm an outlier, but I breathe every 1.5 seconds, so I get more than twice the air than you.

As someone said: breathe every stroke on one side (left or right). Don't slow down your turnover, as you would now be taking about 10 breaths per length, and about a breath every 2.5-3 seconds: that's still a bit too little breathing.

And, yes, exhale as fully as you can (finishing as you break the surface to breathe) without putting a pause in your stroke.

That is great that the thread is helping you too.

I just completed my first triathlon last weekend. I did the swim in 46 minutes (2:11 /100yd) and felt very comfortable. I swam 78,000 yards in the 5 months that I had to prepare. 59 trips to the gym pool (5 of which were lessons) and 3 trips to open water. That is roughly 1,250 yards per swim on average. I would have liked to gone more often but it was hard to get to the gym and balance family life. This gives you a better idea of my total swim training and what it took to get there.

Edit: I should also point out that I swam the race distance (2,120 yards) in the pool without stopping a few times before my race. That gave me a lot of confidence. After I swam my first 1,000 and got my breathing figured out, 2,000 only came a couple weeks later.

well done, that's a pretty good accomplishment for being so new to swimming.

now the trick is to get faster :-)

Well, I did it. On April 15th I could hardly swim a 50 in a pool without my heart trying to beat out of my chest.
Yesterday, I swam over 2,000 yards in a slightly choppy lake on a windy day. (1.2 miles-half Iroman distance) I thought I was OK with bilateral breathing, but it turns out I'm better at every two-strokes (same side) I can switch to the other side if need be. Seems as though i'm better on my recovery and catch on the side that I'm breathing on.
This thread helped me out tremendously. I want to thank the original poster, as well as everyone who added with opinions. I typically lurk and am mostly a reader. I tend to gather tons of info that is helpful.
This, although, was the thread that:
A) Made me finish my first sprint triathlon
B) Made me realize that I can do an Olympic distance comfortably
C) Made me realize that signing up for the Lake Placid half Ironman taking place on 9/10 wasn't a crazy idea after all. I can run and bike no problem, its the swim that concerned me tremendously. Thoughts of dropping out and not participating came to mind MANY times. Its amazing how quick the distance comes on once you get your form settled. Its almost effortless. Kind of like yoga. I just kind of get into a groove tempo, and maintain it. I'm averaging 2:30/100. Im sure the time will get quicker and quicker naturally.
Thanks everyone. Great forum and community you got here.