The Most Important Swimming Skill

Understanding Swimming

For many, swimming is a mystery; people can run fast and far without tiring but get exhausted after one pool lap. This can seem strange, as swimmers, we can swim for hours without getting tired, but just a few minutes of running wears us out. At first, I thought it was only a matter of technique, as the difference between good and bad technique is clear in swimming. But something even more essential than technique is hidden in plain sight. This skill is twice as crucial in swimming as in running: Breathing technique, particularly in terms of quantity and control.  

The Basics 

Why doesn’t endurance in running or biking translate directly to swimming? While I haven’t found a definitive answer, I’ve identified strong evidence. Endurance in any sport involves three elements: Technique, specific strength, and oxygen consumption. 

Oxygen consumption improves your endurance in any sport or any activity in life, but especially in swimming. Your lungs have two functions: to deliver oxygen to the muscles and brain and to help you float. 

Imagine teaching someone your native language. You wouldn’t start with a complex book; you’d begin with basics. Teaching advanced swimming skills without proper breathing techniques is like handing someone a philosophy book to learn a new language.

The BREATHING in Swimming

When you’re swimming your face will be in the water most of the time or at least it should be…

When a good swimmer swims freestyle they inhale a quarter of a second every two or three strokes, the same in butterfly, in breaststroke you breathe more often but the underwater pullout is still very challenging on your lung capacity and in backstroke your face is always out, but you shouldn’t constantly be breathing, you should get into a breathing rhythm similar to freestyle fast every two or three strokes. 

One of the reasons why swimming is so difficult to teach and learn is because it’s not only a physical exercise, it’s also a breathing exercise, so at any swimming level in any stroke or technique, the more efficient your oxygen consumption is, the easier it is to achieve any goal. 

Another Focus While Swimming 

You can benefit a lot in swimming and in your life outside of the pool if you know how to control your breathing the problem is that most of us don’t even know that We don’t control our breathing well. 

I never paid attention to the amount of breath I took until I started teaching how to swim better. I’m not saying you should always be thinking about your breathing, sometimes it is better to pay attention to something else. For example, if you’re trying to pull water more efficiently with your hands you shouldn’t be thinking about your breathing, we recommend using a snorkel to take your mind off your breathing and focus on your hand technique.

What we have tried and we recommend is to focus on breathing before trying to improve your technique since breathing is a crucial part of swimming. Sometimes, fixing your breathing technique can fix other parts of your swimming technique. The clearest example is that more air in your lungs lifts your hips and legs naturally, something impossible with poor breathing control, and it’s also not good to hold your breath as long as you can while swimming, a breathing rhythm is really needed. 

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