Triathlon Swimming: Working on this Breathing Thing

Breathing is still one of the hardest parts of freestyle swimming...for me. Well, I've got other issues, but it's at the top of my list right now. Which led me to focusing more on the fundamentals of the technique instead of just swimming laps and hoping everything magically comes together.

Ever since downloading the Tri Swim Coach app and finding a good progression of drills to focus on, I've been frothing at the mouth to get started! Check out my previous post on the app and DVD.

Today's workout:

• Morning:

• ​1.5 mile run (didn't want to overdo it on a swim day)

• Afternoon:

• ​Side Kicking Drill: 2 x 25m

• Shark Fin Drill: 2 x 25m

• Triple Touch Switch Drill: 2 x 25m

• Hip Rotation Drill: 2 x 25m

• Hand Entry Drill: 2 x 25m

• Freestyle Swimming: 8 x 25m

All of the above drills come from the Tri Swim Coach app with the exception of the Triple Touch Switch. Love this drill and had to include it after coming across it on YouTube. The explaining the details coaches Michael Phelps so it's legit!

This was my first time doing the Hip Rotation drill and I liked it. The toughest part was breathing from the front. Make it a quick breath and you'll be in good shape.

And then there were my freestyle laps. I was a bit spent from the drills so I tried to focus on a nice and smooth technique. This worked until I started to get tired, then my stroke and breathing went south.

So I slowed down and analyzed more. One of the previous Bob Bowman videos I watched (see below) talked about breathing and that you should be able to do it with one goggle in the water and one out. The bow-wave created by your head should provide enough space to take a breath.

Freestyle Breathing with Michael Phelps, Katie Hoff, & Bob Bowman

I was turning my head and getting one goggle in and one out as suggested, but it wasn't happening for me. Finally realized this was due to me tilting my head when turning.

Using the face of a clock to help; the top of my head and chin should've been pointing to 12 and 6, instead it was more like 1 and 7, or more. Something to work on going forward.

My point in sharing this is to point out the importance of stopping and analyzing your technique as you do these drills (or freestyle) to check for proper positioning. So it down if needed and make sure things are where they're supposed to be.

Thanks for reading. More to come...