I experimented with bilateral breathing several times over the past few years. At several points I made a concerted effort to develop the capability, initially at the expense of some speed. I can do it, it isn't pretty and I don't pick up any speed. It is occasionally useful in rough water.

A friend of mine, Andrew Kennedy, who is a truly outstanding and highly experienced swimmer as well as an Ironman veteran, mentioned "bilateral looking" underwater as a means to emphasize a straight, symetrical stroke. This also entails watching the entry point of your hand into the water and "following" your straight arm as you swim to remain straight. I found these techniques very helpful not only for breathing and sighting, but also overall speed.

Andrew also introduced me to Aquasphere Kaiman goggles which enable you to have a much wider field of view. This enables yo to maintain better stroke quality control. It also aids in navigation.

To me, I will always be fastest on a right hand breathing course where I can always breath to the right, but balancing my stroke with the help of Doug Stern, Boris Talon, Andrew Kennedy and others hasa gone a long way to make me a little bit faster.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

good post, tom, and as always its a pleasure getting your feedback.

however, in this case, you didn't answer my question...

should i practice breathing on only one side? ie, does my loss of speed when breathing to one side mean that i lose speed on my breath-stroke every time, but i don't notice it as much - thus, i should practice breathing on only one side as a drill to improve my stroke?

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http://www.theninjadon.blogspot.com

"The bicycle riders drank much wine, and were burned and browned by the sun. They did not take the race seriously except among themselves." -- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

Question, is it that you feel like you lose speed or you actually do lose speed? Regardless, it is better, IMO, to work on improving your breathing technique while still using bilateral breathing. Come race day, it is much better to have the option of breathing to the right, left, or bilateral as the situation dictates, I think that is best achieved with bilateral breathing.

I used to find that in longer, aerobic sets I felt a lot more comfortable breathing on one side, and in sprint sets breathing every third stroke. Partially because I had a very long stroke and a strong kick.

Good breathing technique means that you will occasionally get a mouthful of water. Its not a big deal once you get used to it. If both of your eyes are out of the water when you breathe, thats bad.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I believe that unilateral breathing is bad for you and for the world. It takes bouth lungs to breath right and any action taken unilateraly by one lung over another inpieds our progress toward peacful breathing.

This is why I am putting forth the United Lungs governing body. Only through mulltilateral breathing will we find the true peace of high oxygen uptake.



Thank you and god bless pancakes.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

Let me try a different answer. In a triathlon, and certainly depending on the distance, you want to be conservative with your expenditure of energy - maybe efficient is a better term. So, bilateral breathing, simply because you are breating less, elevates your heart rate for the same amount of effort. Even though bilateral breathing certainly has its importance for training - balanced stroke, etc - under race conditions you are probably better beathing on one side every stroke. This is particularly true for longer events.

Good Luck,

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

I breath almost exclusively bilaterally in the pool, but in a race I mix it up considerably. I'll breath primarily on the side away from the sun on the horizon (as most tri swims are early morning affairs), or away from incoming waves in windy or surf conditions. I still breath to the opposite side every few strokes in order to see who/what is around and aid in navigation. If conditions don't favor one side, I revert to bilateral, because that's the breathing rhythm I'm most comfortable with.



You say that you think you may slow down as you breath. I have the opposite issue. My masters coach used to tell me that I when I would breath, I would launch forward. So, I was pulling extra hard (or getting a better streamline) when I was rotating to breath. It's one of my form points now that I try to keep my effort even.



I don't practice one sided breathing, but I don't have a problem with breathing on either side. If it's a problem for you, then you probably should. I think the key is to keep the same body rotation regardless of which breathing pattern you're using.



Happy trails,

Chris

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Happy trails,
Chris