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Breathing Exercises for Swimming

Swimming is the only sport where you cannot breathe whenever you want. Every breath is scheduled, and panic about air is what breaks a stroke apart. Comfort with a mild air hunger, and a breathing pattern that does not pull you off balance, are both trainable.

Safety first

Breath-hold drills here are for dry land or a supervised pool only. Never practise breath holds or the breathe-up alone in open water, and never hyperventilate before going under — shallow-water blackout gives no warning.

How to use them

Bilateral Swimmer Breath builds an even three-stroke pattern for freestyle. On dry land, CO2 Tolerance Hold and the Hypoxic Swim Ladder teach you to stay relaxed with less air, so the urge to breathe stops feeling like an emergency. Use Diaphragmatic Breathing as a daily base, the Start-Line Reset behind the blocks, and Cool-Down Descend after a hard set.

New to this? Start with Diaphragmatic (Belly) Breathing: Deep belly breathing for oxygen efficiency and endurance.

Every day: build the base

Train daily, away from the action.

• Diaphragmatic (Belly) Breathing — Deep belly breathing for oxygen efficiency and endurance.
• CO2 Tolerance Hold — Extend breath-hold for swimming, freediving and combat sport.
• Wim Hof Style Breathing — 30 deep breaths followed by a retention. Energising and resilient.
• Hypoxic Swim Ladder — Stroke-timed holds that train relaxed swimming on less air.

In training

Breath mechanics while you move.

• Bilateral Swimmer Breath — 3-stroke breathing pattern for balanced freestyle.

Game day: before and between efforts

Before and between efforts.

• Start-Line Reset — Long exhales to tame pre-race nerves in the final minutes.
• Freedive Prep Breathe-Up — Slow, long exhales to prepare for a single deep breath-hold.

Recovery

Bring the system back down.

• Cool-Down Descend — Progressively slower breathing to close out a session.

Get the app

dubchi is free in the browser at dubchi.com (it installs as an app and works offline) and on Android, on Google Play. No account is needed to practise.

Other sports

Breathing Exercises for Freediving · Breathing Exercises for Surfing · Breathing Exercises for Running · Breathing Exercises for Trail Running · Breathing Exercises for Cycling · Breathing Exercises for Triathlon · Breathing Exercises for Rowing · Breathing Exercises for Weightlifting · all sports

General information about breathing practices, not medical or coaching advice.