Bilateral Breathing

     Bilateral breathing is the ability to breathe to the left and the right, swapping sides regularly as you swim. We are big fans of bilateral breathing at Swim Smooth for a very practical reason: it helps keep your stroke symmetrical. Many swimmers find bilateral breathing hard at first, if you have tried and failed before don’t worry, we will help you crack it!
     Most people think of bilateral breathing as breathing every three strokes. This is certainly the most common way and the one we’d recommend for you to use as it’s about the right duration between breaths. However, any breathing pattern where you swap sides regularly is bilateral breathing too, for example:

     Breathing 2-3-2-3: This means breathing twice to one side in a row and then performing three strokes to swap to the other side for two breaths in a row. This breathing pattern is used by many elite swimmers when racing.

     Breathing 5s: Breathing every five strokes can be useful for those with a fast stroke rate who find that breathing every three comes around too often. 

     Swapping sides every lap of the pool: This is often done for tactical reasons to keep a close eye on a competitor in another lane, or simply for something different and engaging.

     If you are a triathlete or open water swimmer then you should be seriously concerned with the symmetry of your stroke. A lopsided stroke is never a good thing but in the pool you can minimise the harm done by keeping yourself straight with the guidance of the black line and the lane ropes. However in open water a lopsided stroke is a serious liability as it will cause you to constantly track off course and swim much further than you have to. What is the most natural way to keep your stroke symmetrical? Bilateral breathing of course! Even if you feel you are slightly slower in the pool breathing bilaterally, you’ll gain back all this time and much more in open water by swimming much straighter.
     How much of your training should you perform breathing bilaterally? If possible, all of it. Some swimmers struggle with hard sets breathing every three strokes; if that is you then we would still encourage you to perform as much as possible breathing to both sides, even if you only think of bilateral breathing as a drill. As long as the majority of your training is bilateral then your stroke should stay symmetrical.
     There are certain situations, when racing in the pool or in the open water, when unilateral breathing would be more beneficial than bilateral breathing, which we will discuss further in Chapter 36. Your ability to breathe equally well to either side will be a tactical trump card in racing situations so that you can draft another swimmer closely or keep a close eye on a competitor who might put in a surge at any point. Practicing breathing to both sides in training will give you this ability in races.

 
     If you are lucky you will take easily to bilateral breathing but most swimmers find it a little strange and awkward at first breathing to their less favoured side. That’s OK, allow yourself about two weeks (or six sessions) to persevere and keep your discipline with it. We call this the ‘two-week bilateral hump’ after which breathing to both sides should start to feel progressively easier every time you swim. The mistake many swimmers make is to try bilateral breathing for a session or two and then give up – keep your discipline a little longer and you can crack it!

     Always bear in mind that if you find bilateral breathing awkward or uncomfortable there is usually something amiss elsewhere within your stroke, which, if fixed, will not only improve your stroke in its own right but also make bilateral breathing easier. A win-win if you’re prepared to commit to making the change and becoming a better, more versatile swimmer.

     As we’ll see in our Swim Types section (starting at Chapter 17), some swimmers have focused on lengthening out their strokes by adding in an extended pause and glide at the front, something we call ‘Overgliding’. As we will see, this style of stroke is not only inefficient but it also slows down the stroke so much that it becomes very hard to breathe every third stroke – the time between breaths is simply too long. It’s no coincidence then that many Overgliders become very lopsided with their strokes as they are stuck breathing to one side only. In Chapter 21 we will take a close look at Overgliding and show you how to improve the rhythm and timing of your stroke for enhanced efficiency. Lifting your stroke rate into the ‘normal’ range will allow you to breathe every third stroke and maintain your  symmetry much more effectively.

     The timing of breathing is something that is often overlooked by coaches and swimmers. When the swimmer rotates to breathe, the head should rotate with the body at the same time:

     Many swimmers, even some elite swimmers, turn the head a fraction later once the body is already rotated. If breathing to your right for example, the right arm will already be into its recovery phase over the top of the water before you start breathing. When viewed from the side of the pool this can look like the swimmer will knock their nose with their right shoulder as the arm comes over. Late breathing reduces the time available to inhale and makes breathing feel a little tense and hurried.

     It’s common for your breathing timing to be better on one side of your stroke than the other and in fact it is normally your preferred breathing side which has late timing! Although you may feel less comfortable breathing to your un-favoured side you will not have developed any bad habits there and so are likely to have better breathing technique, with better timing and less head lift.