Swimming any of the four competitive strokes well requires practice and commitment to technical detail --- especially the front crawl and freestyle strokes. The front crawl is the only stroke that requires the swimmer to rotate his body and head in unison to breath. Breathing incorrectly will cause problems with stroke mechanics. In swimming terms, bilateral breathing refers to a swimmer breathing on both sides, alternating every three or five strokes cycles.
Importance of Bilateral Swimming
Being able to swim bilaterally has both technical and real world benefits, making it a worthy skill to master. Bilateral swimming keeps your stroke symmetrical -- extremely important in swimming. Bilateral swimming allows you to roll an equal amount to your right and left sides, allowing you to breathe and flutter kick more efficiently and effectively. Competitive swimmers can check on their competition on either side of the pool. Open water swimmers can avoid bright sunlight in their eyes and waves in their mouths.
One-Arm Drill
If your flutter kick is weak, use fins to keep you moving. Push off the wall and rotate your body to the right, keeping your left hand extended to the front and your right hand back on your outer thigh. Take a breath, and return to looking down at the bottom of the pool. Exhale into the water and repeat for one pool length. Repeat the drill, rotating to the left until you have completed one lap. Complete a total of 200 yards or meters.
Vary Your Breathing
Perform this exercise as part of your warm-up routine. Begin swimming the first length breathing only to your right side; swim the return length breathing only to your left side. On the third length, breathe every third stroke, alternating from one side to the other. On the fourth length, breathe every fourth stroke, focusing on exhaling into the water, your hand entry and the catch. On the fifth length, breathe every fifth stroke, still focused on relaxed exhales into the water, hand entry and your catch. On the sixth length, breathe twice to your weak side, then twice to your strong side. On the seventh length, breathe on each stroke, focusing on quick rotation from side to side. Varying your breathing pattern will help you become more comfortable with bilateral breathing.
Conclusion
Bilateral breathing will improve your swimming over time if you consistently include bilateral drills into the warm-up or cool-down sets of your training. One key element to focus on is fully exhaling into the water before going to air, especially on the weak side rotation.
References
- Trifuel.com; Swimming: Bilateral Breathing; What Is Bi-Lateral Breathing?; February 2011
- Swim Smooth: The Power of Bilateral Breathing in Freestyle: Why Is It Important to Breathe Bilaterally?
- Beginner Triathlete; Beginning or Improving Bilateral Breathing: Bilateral Breathing Drills: One Arm Drill; Gary Hall Sr.; February 2011
- Go Swim TV; Drills; Freestyle; Vary Your Breathing; How to Do It; Barbara Hummel; February 2008
- Swim Smooth: The Power of Bilateral Breathing in Freestyle: Is There a Trick to Doing It?
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