Breathing properly will improve your swimming and may help you avoid neck pain. If you have difficulty with your stroke, it may be because you are not breathing correctly. Breathing difficulties can cause problems with kicks, body rotation and lop sided strokes. Inhaling at the appropriate time, in the correct position and exhaling completely may make a difference in your swimming performance.
Freestyle
With freestyle, also known as the crawl, you need to exhale completely and continuously when your head is underwater. To breathe, turn your head to the side of the recovering arm at the beginning of recovery. The triangle, called the pocket, is created between the upper arm, lower arm and the waterline. Your forward movement causes a wave, with a cup or trough in the water surface near your ear. You can breathe here without having to rotate your head as much. If water runs down your face, blow it away before you breathe. Your head should be facing down when the recovery hand enters the water.
Bilateral Breathing
With freestyle swimming, learn to alternate the sides on which you take a breath. According to USA Swimming bilateral breathing "helps balancing your stroke, creates symmetry in back musculature, helps eliminate cramping and increases your oxygen intake, resulting in a more efficient faster stroke." As an added bonus, you can keep track of competitors on both of your sides during a race. If you aren't currently using bilateral breathing, practice by breathing on the opposite side from usual during practice for some laps. Eventually you should transition into breathing every third stroke.
Backstroke
You may find breathing easy with this stroke as the head is always out of the water. Inhale during recovery of one arm and exhale during the pull-and-push phase. Inhale and exhale through both your nose and mouth.
Breaststroke
When performing the breaststroke you should exhale completely during the glide phase. Inhale during the arm-pulling phase. During inhalation, the head should face the water and the head should align with the back. If the head is too far back, the hips drop, creating drag and you will go slower. Additionally, more stress is placed on the neck if the head is tilted.
Butterfly
Exhale completely when the head is submerged. Take a quick breath during the short window of time that the head clears the water during the underwater press, when the hands and forearms move under the chest. If you have difficulty with the head clearing the water, your kick may need to be stronger, you may need more upper body strength, or both. Some swimmers turn their head as in the freestyle, but most coaches do not recommend this method. While most swimmers breathe every other stroke, Michael Phelps, who holds two world records in the butterfly, breathes every stroke.
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