What is rhythmic breathing?

Rhythmic breathing is breathing every 3 (or every 5/7/9) strokes. i.e. breathing to both sides.

What drills have you tried that haven't worked? Have you tried giving her fins? How does she swim with a snorkel where she doesn't have to breathe?

I would suggest that this child simply breathe to the same side every stroke.

OK, I am not going to respond with technique tips, but just some swammer (past tense of swimmer) parent thoughts. (Although, on the technique side, I suspect she just needs to get with the right coach on the right day and something will click and it will suddenly work for her.)


Intervening in age group coaching decisions is a really delicate area. Most every child that does not advance with their peers will be unhappy, but the coach is worried about advancing someone to a training group for which they are unprepared. Nonetheless, if the child is ready for the next group in most every way, but does not check one or two boxes (like being able to bilaterally breath), a discussion with the coach might be in order. My son is pretty pigeon toed and it made it almost impossible to do a legal breast stroke kick (and completely impossible to do an effective one). When he was young, he was held back once for his breast stroke deficiencies. I had a really positive and constructive discussion with the coach and it was like I could see the light bulb turning on in his head. My son was moved up, had a great experience there and went on to have a successful high school and college (D3) swimming career (but he never grew into enough leg flexibility to be any good at breast stroke!).

Not sure if any of this applies to this girl. The hard part of being a swim parent is trying to figure out how you can support your child's enjoyment of the sport. It is a demanding sport and without enjoyment they can't last very long. So which path would work best here -- move up with her peers for an immediate positive response (but has the risk of making every practice a drag because she cannot keep up) or stay down for a while (which is sad, but maybe she will become more determined to get past the obstacle or maybe she will be a long term swimmer because she wasn't faced with daily defeat because of being in the wrong training group at an early age). If your friend decides to talk with the coach, he/she needs to be listening to what the coach is saying. Maybe the coach can map out a way forward that will work perfectly.

One last thing. Having gone through it, I know that some of every parent's ego ends up getting wrapped around the child's success -- especially compared to how the parent's peer's children are doing. Its natural to have these feelings, but it is critical that the parent recognize them for what they are and not push the child in the direction that is best for the parent instead of what's best for the parent.

It's been a while since I taught kids but some ideas to try
Using a kick board outstretched with armon it taking strokes (this reduces anxiety with some kids) then just do arm strokes breathing every 3 etc. make sure she remembers to keep kicking while breathing.

6 strokes on the right, 6 strokes on the left, 6 regular strokes- focus on rotating body in unison (this ones really helps some kids with the wiggles and will slow down everything happening for the breathing since you don'e have to rotate all of the way to the other side)

Catch up drill can help too as it slows down the stroke allowing for breathing to fit in better for some kids.

If she's taking a long time to breathe it's likely she is not exhaling underwater so when she picks her head up she has to exhale before she can inhale- so encouraging her to exhale underwater before picking her head up will help. This combined with thumb tip drill which defines just arm pit forward as breathing space can help speed up her breathing so it can get her air quicker.

It's hard to tell without seeing- but things to try.

Truth. Very well said. -J

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Life is tough. But it's tougher when you're stupid. -John Wayne

Thank you for the responses! More than anything, her father does not want her to get discouraged. She absolutely loves being in the water.

We'll try the drills suggested.

First off, find one of the coaches who she gets on with well and responds to and see if she can get some private lessons for a little cash.

Drills can work but that is not the best approach for someone who is on the pre pre team trying to move up. She sounds to me like just needs to get more comfortable in the water which will in turn make her more comfortable taking breaths without trying to get her mouth 2 feet above the water surface.

I think the absolute best "drill" for little kids is to take them to the pool a lot and let them play in the water. 4 hours of sharks and minnows a day with a some cannon ball contests thrown in can cure a ton of stroke flaws over the course of a summer.

what someone else said about her not exhaling when her face is in the water is likely a big part of it.
I also second the breathe to one side thing. She can pick up breathing to either side later (I did).

STP is also right on about a lot of play.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Starting single sided breathing at a young age is a huge mistake. She will almost certainly start favoring one aide over another and will develop muscle imbalances that will have a negative impact later down the road; she will also almost certainly start crossing over on the side opposite the one she breathes on as well. It can work, I just feel it causes more long term problems than its worth fixing in the short term. The previously mentioned kickboard drill is something I've had success with, so I'd second that suggestion.

This girl is eight years old.

Breathe to one side every stroke.

Maybe ask her to try breathing to the other stride every stroke.

Down the road, she can try alternating.

Those are good points - to offer a more nuanced opinion, I'd say keep working on the breathing on both sides, but move her up to the next group. The key thing for young kids is that they enjoy the sport.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

That last sentence x1000. Too many parents forget about that and swimming becomes a terrible grind right around high school. It makes me sad