When I am breathing hard running fast, it is 90+ breaths per minute, corresponding to right foot strikes (don't know why, perhaps I push off harder with the right side so better synchronzation like breathing out while bench pressing....). This is typically my breathing rate for the final 5K of any race or any distance, or for mile or lower repeats. In a tri, I breath every second out of the gate and every third once things settle down. Assuming 88 strokes per 100m at 90 second per 100m, that is still only 45 breaths breathing every second stroke for 90 seconds or 30 for 1 minute. While running hard I am breathing 3x the rate of swimming.
When I watch slow swimmers, they have these really long slow strokes, and they are perhaps covering 100m in 2 minutes or 50 m per minute.....breathing once every 3 strokes at say 25 strokes per length.....50/3 = 16 breaths per minute. Of course they are winded. Even every second stroke gets them to 25 breaths per minute. You ever notice how these guys are constantly out of breath....they are doing a hypoxia workout on a continuous basis, even though their actual work is not that high.
When I watch slow swimmers, they have these really long slow strokes, and they are perhaps covering 100m in 2 minutes or 50 m per minute.....breathing once every 3 strokes at say 25 strokes per length.....50/3 = 16 breaths per minute. Of course they are winded. Even every second stroke gets them to 25 breaths per minute. You ever notice how these guys are constantly out of breath....they are doing a hypoxia workout on a continuous basis, even though their actual work is not that high.