Breathing Techniques for Newbies Doing Triathlons

By: Ronald Molina

Ask any triathlete or someone who wishes to do a triathlon which part they dread the most, and they’ll probably say the swim. But, with understanding proper breathing techniques and plenty of practice in the swimming pool; anyone can overcome this dreadful part of the race.

As a beginner triathlete myself, with just 3 races under my belt, swimming can be a daunting task, but with time and constant learning, the swim part can be an enjoyable one without it being terrifying on race day.  As we all know, breathing is easy on the bike and run. While there are a few tricks to rhythmic breathing in both of these legs, you don't have to move around and ask your surroundings permission in order to get a breath. In swimming, you do.

From a beginner standpoint and what I have read and learned so far; the two most important aspects of breathing in swimming are becoming comfortable with:

1. your face in the water while swimming
2. a rhythm to your breathing

Face In the Water

Keeping your face in the water is step one, because if you swim with your head up or your face out of the water, your legs and hips will drop. A high-head/low-hip position requires you to push more surface area through the water, creating more drag and makes you splash all over the place, which you don’t want.

There are different tricks to keeping your face in the water. Be sure to have comfortable goggles. Focus on looking at the bottom or staring at the black line down the center of the lane in the pool. If you experience anxiety due to being under water, take a lot of rest breaks and remember that as far as pool training goes, you are never very far from the wall and an exit. Taking swimming lessons, signing up for Tri Clinics, and lots of practice will help.

Rhythmic Breathing

Once you are comfortable keeping your face/head in the water while swimming, you need to figure out how and when to breath. The critical action here is to begin exhaling through your nose/mouth as soon as you finish breathing in.  The tendency for beginning swimmers is to hold their breath while their face is in the water, then try to exhale and inhale very quickly when turning to breathe. This will create a shallow breath and a quick buildup of carbon dioxide in the lungs. They will have to stop and take a break in training or roll over on their backs to catch a few deep breaths on race day, which I have done before.

You must exhale while your face is in the water. So when you turn to breathe, your lungs are mostly empty and ready to accept a fresh breath of air. You do need to force the rhythm a bit. You should forcefully exhale through your nose/mouth as soon as you complete the breath. There's no pausing. It is a constant rhythm.

Two- or Three-Stroke Breathing

If there is one important thing I have learned by attending swim clinics in the area is that the three-stroke or bilateral breathing, will help you create and maintain an even stroke and improve mechanics on both sides of your body. However, it will increase the time between breaths by 50 percent over a two-stroke or one-sided breathing pattern. That is a huge decrease in total oxygen flow while swimming.

The best thing to do is to incorporate bilateral breathing in your workouts during warm-up, drills, easy aerobic sets and short sprints like 25s and 50s. Work on stroke balance by breathing to the left going down the pool and to the right coming back.  The main problem with breathing to one side all the time is that it usually creates a hitch or imbalance in one side. Typically one side becomes a bit stronger and you will veer off course in open water. The main benefit, however, is more air, which is nice when you are trying to swim fast.

You can definitely learn more swimming techniques and open water advice at the next DC Tri Clinic on Sunday, March 25.

About Ronald:

Ronald recently started doing triathlons in June of 2010 and has been hooked on the sport. During his childhood and throughout his life he has loved swimming and biking; then in 2010, he was introduced to the sport of triathlon by his older brother and was intent on training hard for his first one. He completed the 2010 Washington DC Triathlon and volunteered at the ACHIEVE Youth Triathlon. Recently he ran the 5 Mile Alexandria Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. Ronald is looking forward in introducing more minority athletes and others to the sport of triathlon and to promote a healthy and active lifestyle.