Am really trying to learn to bi-lateral breath, i know it would lengthen and balance my stroke. My primary difficulty is i run out of air after after 50 meters. Think it’s partly because i am not expelling completely and consequently not inhaling fully, etc. Is a snorkel likely to help with this ? any other snorkel benefits ? thanks.
I would say no to the snorkel. You are better off just really working on your stroke and breathing. Start with 50 meters, if that is what you can do, then work to 100 meter and on up.
I’m just curious how you thought a snorkel might help you learn how to bi-lateral breathe? I’m having difficulty making that leap.
what you see collegiate swimmers doing is not always what triathletes need to do!
A very experienced swim coach told me to ditch the bi-lateral breathing and breath every other stroke. More oxygen, I think. Maybe my left-side breathing really sucked. all that aside, I think the value of snorkles is so people can work on stroke mechanics without complicating things by having to turn to breath. I have never tried one.
Talk to a swim coach about whether you should bilateral breath. I swam for 10 years without any really good coaching. Without competent coaching I’m not sure that devices: snorkles, paddles etc. really do much. After working with a coach I dropped about 3 1/2 minutes on a 1000 yd swim from last year although a wetsuit was part of this. I’m happy with the improvement but also kicking myself for not getting coaching sooner.
My 2 cents, but I sincerely doubt that using a snorkle in any capacity for competitive swimminr OR triathlons is going to help - period!! How does one learn better stroke mechanics if you take away a major component of the stroke.
Kinda like it’s tough to learn how to bike well without pedals…
Ah, my ole friend from Central AR !! Snorkel helping to bi-lateral thought comes from needing to exhale / expel more and (quote from Finis snorkel) " breathing through a snorkel …increases the capacity of the lungs to expel air, required for optimal intake of oxygen."
Have you ever used one? We are not talking about normal snokels. These are specifically designed for swimming. They can help people to even out their stroke as thye do not have to turn their head to breathe. Also, they can become a hypoxic torture device. Our coach used to make us duct tape over 75% of the opening. We were not allowed to remove the snorkel when we were on the wall either. If someone removed the mouthpiece, then the set would start over. It sucks when you first do it, but after a few weeks of doing it every now and then we began to notice it wasn’t so bad. I don’t know if it actually had any benefits which translated to racing faster; however, it certainly made it easier to put the head down and not breathe the last 15-20 meters of a race.
Also, they can be very effective for sprinters who basically do not breathe when they race. This lets them simulate race specific speed while still getting O2, which lets them perform more repeats…
With that said, the vast majority of triathletes would NOT benefit from a snorkel. If one does not already have good stroke mechanics, then it would be easy for them to become used to swimming without much body roll, and that would be bad 
You don’t have much of swim background, huh?
Have you ever used one? We are not talking about normal snokels. These are specifically designed for swimming. They can help people to even out their stroke as thye do not have to turn their head to breathe. Also, they can become a hypoxic torture device. Our coach used to make us duct tape over 75% of the opening. We were not allowed to remove the snorkel when we were on the wall either. If someone removed the mouthpiece, then the set would start over. It sucks when you first do it, but after a few weeks of doing it every now and then we began to notice it wasn’t so bad. I don’t know if it actually had any benefits which translated to racing faster; however, it certainly made it easier to put the head down and not breathe the last 15-20 meters of a race.
Also, they can be very effective for sprinters who basically do not breathe when they race. This lets them simulate race specific speed while still getting O2, which lets them perform more repeats…
With that said, the vast majority of triathletes would NOT benefit from a snorkel. If one does not already have good stroke mechanics, then it would be easy for them to become used to swimming without much body roll, and that would be bad
I can only say, “strange”. I swam competitively for 20 years, including 4 years at a top 15 D1 school and never even heard of this drill. It does seem to me that you could easily get the same benefit by doing 20 100’s on 1:05…
I’ve done paddles, pull buoys, bungee chords, clothing, shoes, fins, weights - probably 100 other things - but never a snorkle…
Also, never seen anyone NOT breathe for the last 15 or 20 meters of a race, unless you’re talking specifically about a 50 meter sprint. That’s awfully impressive…
You don’t have much of swim background, huh?
Are you serious?
Wow, I must have really left a sour taste in your mouth. I could stretch really really hard to see the efficacy in that aspect. Maybe. Just Maybe.
i didn’t know, man. that’s why i made the post…i’m just trying to tap into the rich resources of this board and improve.
i didn’t know, man. that’s why i made the post…i’m just trying to tap into the rich resources of this board and improve.
You always going to get a lot of uninformed negative opinions about any unconventional training device.
I don’t really know if it will help you, but I do know that some swim coaches incorporate the snorkel as part of their training plans. Finis makes the swim snorkel which is positioned midline so that it will not interfere with the movement of the arms.
There’s certainly no harm in trying it, but don’t expect immediate benefits. I would find out from the coaches who advocate their use if they have specific drills that are done with the snorkel.
The real benefit of a snorkel is that you can concentrate more on the weird stuff at the bottom of the pool. Things like partial weaves and band-aids. At least that’s whats in my pool.
I tried using one awhile back because my breathing technique was so poor. It was actually harder/more annoying to swim with it, so I just fixed my breathing… on one side 
Now I just use it for kicking, which is a pretty awesome way to kick. No stupid kickboard (which I sink anyway), no worries about learning bad body position, etc.
There’s another way to even out your stroke - breathe every four instead of two strokes.
Doug Stern said that he would have his folks use a snorkel during some of their workouts, and that when testing them on a 10 min TT before using it and then after, that there would always be improvements across the board.
I’m not sure if he had people use it during specific drills or just plain swimming (and alas, now I’ll probably never know), but he did feel that it was helpful.
I went out and bought one, but the only time I’ve ever used it was to go snorkeling in Maui the week after Kona last year. Saved the whopping $5 rental fee - good thing I schlepped that and my fins 6000 miles each way, eh?