Bilateral Breathing

Originally published on the USA Swimming website

Why bilateral breathing?

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week was submitted by Ray Mitchell, head coach of the Terrapins Swim Team, who offers some advice on bilateral breathing.

Mitchell's Tip

I would definitely encourage developing age group swimmers to develop a bilateral breathing technique. This will help "balance" out their stroke and teach them how to evenly rotate their hips on both sides of their stroke.

A very common stroke fault in freestyle is under-rolling on the non-breathing side. This can have the effect of reducing power on the finish of your stroke due to limited hip roll. Bilateral breathing can help you "even out" your body roll and keep a more balanced stroke. Training with a bilateral breathing technique may also help reduce shoulder injury and stress to your traditional non-breathing side. One of the first things we do when swimmers complain of opposite-side shoulder irritation is have them breath bilaterally, thereby reducing pressure on the stressed shoulder.

In terms of world-class swimmers using this technique, it is more predominant in women's events, particularly with those who utilize a "two-beat" style kick. Most world-class male swimmers breathe to one side but there is a caveat here – these swimmers have mastered effective body roll/rotation to their non-breathing side.

Good luck with developing your new breathing technique!