Curious as to where the numbers fall and sentiment is with freestyle stroke preference. And why if you care to elaborate.
For a long time I labored under the impression that 3 stroke and bi-lateral was optimal. When I became really adept at rolling up and down for air, my 2 stroke swimming became faster and it also reduced concern about a bad inhale because the next one was coming right up.
What is your freestyle stroke preference?
I’m a solid MOP swimmer. I’m a 2. I try bilateral 3 from time to time in the pool but just can’t seem to get in a rhythm with it. I primarily breathe to the right. I’m working this year on getting comfortable breathing left just in case it is needed due to race conditions. I sight well so I have never been in a place where breathing only right has bothered me.
I still do 3 on 500 warmup, but that’s it. It helps me concentrate on keeping the pull consistent; it is different depending on which side I breathe from. However I’m loads faster on 2-stroke, except if I don’t breathe at all which is at best a 10Y sprint. Sometimes I’ll do 3, 4, or 5 on pull drills.
I have become adept at breathing from left or right, and my original “good” side is now my “slow” side. I’m left handed so I can get a really strong pull from my left arm, so I’ve become faster when I breathe to the right. My pull with my right arm (when I breathe to my left) is dodgy.
Having come into triathlon from cycling with a long-past running history, I was accustomed to a very high respiration rate. It took me almost a year of swimming just to get used to the fact that I couldn’t breathe as often. I forced myself to do 3 stroke for months, just so I could learn to breathe from both sides. Now I just switch at the ends of the pool so I’m always facing the same wall. Now that I can, and I’m learning to increase my stroke rate, I can appreciate the extra oxygen. I think if I tried to do 3 at my 50 or even my 100 interval pace I’d probably black out before I got to the wall.
Racing: every 2
training. what ever you want but make sure you are good breathing on both side…it will come handy in open water situation
For longer repeats in training, and in races / open water, definitely every 2. Mostly to optimize air intake. You’ll probably end up having a preferred side (mine is to the left) but I’ve always felt (and been taught) that mixing in some every-3 breathing in practice can ensure you don’t develop any stroke imbalances. For instance, my right side can become lazy after a while and not fully rotate at the hips and my catch will suffer.
I always breathe 2, but occasionally I’ll breathe to the “wrong” side.
every 3 for racing & training.
Every 2 both in training and racing, training i switch between left and right breathing every 50m, racing is right only.
For OW swims, I alternate 2, 3, 2, 3…I don’t know when I started, but it’s just what comes naturally now. If my mind wanders, I often catch myself counting to five. 1, 2, breathe, 4, breathe, repeat. I vaguely remember trying to force myself to transition to bilateral breathing and this was the product. Thinking about it is actually harder than doing it. Breathe on one side twice, then take 3 strokes and breathe on the other side twice. Instead of a breath every other stroke, you end up taking a breath on 40% of the strokes vs 33% for a true 3-stroke bilateral breather.
With regard to a “bad inhale,” I’m always ready to swap sides, so there will often be long periods of unilateral breathing for me in a long swim, especially if there’s wind/waves from one side.
At masters, I’ve found that I’ll subconsciously transition back to unilateral breathing, probably because of short, intense sets.
I mainly train with 3 for a balanced stroke. Although, I breathe every 2nd coming off the wall (50m pool).
I race breathing every 2nd.
I am MOP, for me that is 1.03 for IM distance (on an average not fast/slow course).
I breath 3 times every 4 strokes in races more often than I do anything else besides every 2.
you need air more than you need the streamlining benefits of breathing less often. so forget about aythinng more than 3. 2 is most common among elite swimmers, although some 1500m and 10k swimmers sometimes throw in a breath both sides one right after the other (i.e. 1!). this takes some practice but the more you try it the easier it gets.
Something like 2, 2, 3. The harder I’m going the less 3s there are.
Swim Smooth promotes bi-lateral in their blogs quite heavily. I’d be interested in hearing what others opinion on why, when most seem to be promoting x2
Every 2, in practice switch sides every 25.
What would you say if I asked this: “Cycling, breathing 30, 20, 15, or 12 times per minute?”
I teach, coach & preach to use alternate breathing (every 3 strokes). Personally, I train breathing every 3 strokes. I race using every 2 (O2 is our friend).
what does that mean? my english mental translator failed me on that one…
Every 2 = stroke, stroke, breathe
Every 3 = stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe
He is saying: stroke, stroke, breathe, stroke, breathe, stroke, breathe. stroke, stroke, breathe, stroke, breathe, stroke, breathe.
3 breaths for every 4 strokes.
I always do 3 in the pool unless I’m doing intervals. That last 25y on an all out 100y kills me and I switch to 2 without thinking too much about it. It just happens because I need more air.
In OWS I tend to switch between 2 and 3 depending on how hard I’m going. Again never think about it too much.