Total Immersion Swimming

The Breakout in Freestyle
By BRIAN VANDE KROL

I've struggled in the past with common wisdom concerning what should happen when you surface after a turn or start (the breakout) in freestyle, specifically the notion that you shouldn’t breathe on your first stroke. Extending the glide after push-off has obvious benefits; however, the need for air competes with the need for speed and thus I either shorten my push-off or ignore the maxim and breathe on the first stroke anyway.

I’ve always felt that I gained more from lengthening my push-off glide and taking a breath on the first stroke than I did from abbreviating it just so that I could take that first stroke without breathing. The breath will come at nearly the same spot either way.

If I time the breakout properly, I maintain my speed from the push-off when I start stroking. If I start stroking too soon, I slow down. Too late, and I have to expend more energy to overcome inertia and accelerate to my swimming speed. With these competing interests in mind, I believe that the optimal solution is to take a breath on the first stroke, but to not allow that to affect my forward speed; I want it to fit into my stroke just as seamlessly as any other breath. The following points have helped me improve my breakouts while breathing:

Know Thyself With experience and attention, I'm developing a better feel for how long (in time) I can hold my push-off before I need air. That time is affected by how fresh I am, how far I've gone, how far I have to go, and how relaxed I am.

Relaxing allows me to glide longer without breathing. I used to practice a "tight" streamline, squeezing my body into a torpedo shape. If I relax, I can glide longer because I don't need air so soon. Relaxing into the torpedo shape sacrifices little speed compared to the “breath abbreviated” glide I get when I’m tense in streamline. All those factors combine to determine how long I can go before I need to breathe. With experience and attention, I can better estimate how long to go underwater.

Improve My Aim I can push off the wall and arrive immediately at the surface, or I can go straight to the bottom, depending on which direction I aim. My goal is to aim my body so I arrive at the surface at the precise moment that I need air, and/or when my swimming speed matches my glide speed.

Breakout in "Dynamic" Skate The common wisdom about not breathing at breakout is designed to prevent loss of speed as a swimmer sacrifices streamline to get air. If you don't expect to get air, you might be more likely to breakout in balance, and your first stroke will propel you, rather than lift your head to breathe.

To get a breath without giving up forward speed, try these focal points:

1. Spear your opposite arm to its X-Y coordinate (established in skate) as you take your breathing stroke. Watch other swimmers break out - you'll often see that the lead hand scoops upward, causing the head to lift and hurting streamline. Instead, allow the combination of momentum and the air in your lungs to surface your body, while you use the extending arm to pierce the water ahead of your streamlining body.

2. Point your laser beam forward. Again, watch other swimmers breakout. You'll often see the top of the head lift as they breathe. This puts swimmers in an uphill position, slowing them down. Instead, imagine a laser beam coming out of the top of the head. As you stroke and break out, keep that beam pointing to the far end.

These two focal points help me establish a balanced skate position and maintain my speed as I break out and start stroking. I call it a dynamic skate position because I keep the pulling arm moving, going straight into recovery and another stroke.

SEE the breakout -- and every other part of an easy and efficient freestyle here.