Breathing in Freestyle: Pool vs Open Water

Hey swimmers! This is coach Milo.

Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from you all on the internet.

Today's question is:

"Breathing in Freestyle: Pool vs Open Water"

Summary:

Milo contrasts how a competitive pool swimmer and an open water swimmer should handle the freestyle breath. In the pool, the priority is alignment: keep your head close to your arm, because lifting your head collects water between your arm and face and creates drag. There's also a breath timing to it, with the breath happening at the moment your hand enters, the point of intersection. In open water, the calculus changes. You might look forward to avoid getting kicked in the face, and you stick your head out periodically to sight your position and orient to the competition. But the more you move your head, the more snake-like and inefficient you swim, so he advises keeping your head down and aligned for a few strokes before lifting it, which helps you hold a straighter line.

Answer:

If you're in a pool and you're a competitive swimmer, you want to make sure you're maintaining alignment. Your head is going to be close to your arm, because the more you lift your head when you breathe, the more you collect water between your arm and your face, and that just creates drag. So for swimmers, it's really important to keep your head as close to your arm as possible when breathing. There's actually a breath timing to it too: when your hand enters, that's the moment you take your breath, the very moment of intersection. But if you're an open water swimmer, you might want to look forward so you don't get kicked in the face. You might stick your head out periodically to see where you are and orient yourself based on the rest of the competition. Just know that as an open water swimmer, the more you move your head while swimming, the more snake-like you move. If you can keep your head down and aligned for a couple of strokes before you stick it out, it's going to help you swim in a straighter line.