2 Stroke vs 3 Stroke Breathing: Pros/Cons
Ok I've just finished a 20 week (100% Hacked) Run/Bike program and I'm really pleased with the outcome (no need for backdoor bragging here). Today I went for my first swim since IMFlorida last November. It felt... pretty suboptimal, but that's to be expected.
Swimming is not my strength, I just learned to swim 4 years ago. It's my weakest discipline but wanted to get the swim experts opinion on 2 stroke vs 3 stroke breathing. I've only been using 3 stroke bilateral breathing and am very comfortable with it. Yet I've heard, and just recently watched all the tower 26 swim vids on Youtube, that 2 stroke allows you to take in that much more Oxygen and is therefore more efficient. I'm a 31' HIM and 1:05 IM swimmer, if that helps.
As I transition back into swimming I'm considering just swimming with a 2 stroke/breathe rate and switching it up so I'm equally comfortable on both sides. I'm also practicing sighting on every length in training now as I lost several minutes on my last race due to poor sighting in some pretty big waves.
Please let me know your opinions and insights.
Comments
That said, I am 100% on board with what was said in that video. It's useful to be able to breathe on both sides. It's useful to learn to swim "balanced" and symmetrically. However, the modest (but real) advantage you get from breathing less frequently in short pool-swimming events is totally outweighed by getting more air and the corresponding lower heart rate in a 30-80 minute swim at the beginning of an IM or HIM. A lot of people will have their highest HR of the day at the end of the swim. No need to exacerbate that.
I have kids who are pretty good 12 year old pool swimmers, and their coaches have worked with little kids who can barely make it through 25 yards, coached college teams, and one of them literally was Missy Franklin's coach from about age 12-14. They also hold this point of view...my daughter, who came in second in the 1650 at the state meet a few months ago, is coached to breathe largely every stroke for the 500 and up. (and only once in the course of a whole 50, just to show you they're not insane about breathing) I received the same advice from the local ex-university swim coach (who is a masters world record holder and continued competitive swimmer while pushing 60). I guess my point here is that this "breathe every stroke" thing is hardly some radical position. There is a lot of the swimming establishment that agrees with it.
For training I like to see 3-stroke breathing as it encourages an equal body roll to both sides, good body rotation, the ability to breath smoothly to both sides is a good skill for racing, etc.
For racing I recommend 2-stroke breathing for the reasons you cited. Namely, mo' oxygen is mo' betta.
All covered pretty well above.
Warm up, drills, aerobic sets, done, cooldown at REC, EN1 speed b3 is breathing of choice. Any other set, b2 breathing for sure.
REC=recovery pace EN1= easy aerobic Z1,2 b3=bilateral b2=every other stroke or every stroke....depends how you call it
All OWS racing is b2 and when needed have to be able to switch sides for tactical advantage, waves, view of other swimmers, sun.....
Pool racing........anything over 100FR, all breath b2. Watch videos.
Your head position and rotation have to be minimally disruptive to your body line when breathing. Practice one goggle showing above surface, the other below.
We train distance swimmers in sets that require switching sides of breath tactically as needed, you can do sets of any distance, alternating sides by interval ie: 5x200 odds breath to the left, evens breath to the right, all b2.
You got plenty now to work with.
Thank You for all your insights team. Much Appreciated!
If you are breathing every 3rd in races, and you are satisfied with both your swim split and overall times ... don't bother changing. But if you want to go faster (I assume you do!), then yes, you WILL need to learn how to swim well while breathing every 2nd. Despite all the hoopla about swimming being a "technique sport" (and the existence of the term swim "golf"), to go faster, you must actually work harder. And if you work harder, you'll want more oxygen. To get more oxygen, you'll need to breathe more often.
Bottom line: learn every 2nd, and then learn how to work harder during the swim leg of a triathlon.
Anyways, they encourage two-stroke breathing but alternating sides- so breathe to one side up the pool and the other coming back. Not only puts even stress on muscles, but it means you do either comfortably, so in a race, you can breathe to the side that suits conditions, eg to avoid chop.
Ironic, though - because when I started swimming, I could only do a 2-stroke. I learned to breath bilaterally and go with 3-stroke because it kept me on course, kept me relaxed, reduced the number of times my head would interfere my gliding through the water (because I wasn't coming up for a breath so often), and overall made me faster. But now that I believe my form has reached it's ROI potential, I may have to start looking at going back to two stroke to increase oxygen uptake as I add some fitness to the form to get more speed.