2 Essential Breathing tips for open water swimming
Breathing is a crucial skill for every swimmer. However, for open water swimmers, knowing how to breathe in difficult conditions like choppy water, stormy weather and big races, can make the difference between a finished race and something left undone.
The good news is that breathing, even in the changing conditions of open water can practice, you can get better at it. In fact, knowing the basics of open water swimming breathing will help you get over the most difficult and unexpected situations.
In this blog, we will look at a few tips and tricks for breathing while swimming in open water, like the technique of breathing bilaterally and how to handle panic while swimming. Want to know how you can breathe easier while swimming in open water? Read on!
Start at the start: Bilateral Breathing
There is always a bit of discussion: is bilateral breathing a necessary skill for swimming in open water? Bilateral breathing, as the name suggests, is the technique of being able to breathe on both sides. There are swimmers who feel confident only being able to breathe on one side, while others swear by bilateral breathing. We recommend being at least able to breathe on both sides and afterwards choose whatever works best for you.
Being able to do bilateral breathing has some advantages in open water:
The restless nature of open water means that the water can throw anything at you: passing boats, groups of swimmers on another side, big waves. In bilateral breathing you avoid breaking your stroke to avoid someone else, or avoid swallowing a mouthful of water from a big wave from one side;
For longer distances, being able to breathe bilaterally, has the added advantage of reducing problems with chafing, and neck and shoulders stiffness. As you can change up your breathing, you don’t have to hold your body in the same position during the whole distance.
Sighting: possibly the biggest advantage of bilateral breathing is the ability to see more things: as you breathe from one side to the other, you can see the shore as well as other racers or swimmers in the water. You will have a better view and idea of the lay of the water, which is quite important in open water swimming.
Fighting Fear and Panic
Panic in the water can lead to hyperventilation, so one of the most important aspects is to know what to do in various situations. Hyperventilation can even force you to pull out of a race if you can’t get your breath under control again.
When you’re stressed in the water, of which hyperventilation could be considered a symptom, your breathing speeds up. You start to breathe faster and faster until you get the feeling that you can’t breathe anymore, that air doesn’t enter your lungs. What you should do in these cases, is breathe slower. Because, by breathing slower, you show your body that everything is okay, that there is no reason to panic, and your stress levels should go down.
A good trick to do before starting a race is to practise breathing with your face in the water before. This way, you allow your body and your mind get used to the cold water, and the idea of having to breath a certain way, swimming in open water.
You can do this!
Breathing in open water is a matter of confidence. If you know what you’re doing, if you know how to deal with the situations that the open water throws at you, if you accept panic and stress and can manage it, you’re a more than ready for any open water swim. This blog has talked about two essential open water swimming breathing tips. Do you have tips you wished to see added to this list, do let us know. We will add it to our list.