How do you breathe when swimming freestyle?

Exhale steadily through your nose and mouth while your face is in the water, then rotate your head with your body so one goggle stays in the water and your mouth clears the surface. Take a quick breath, turn your face back down and start exhaling again. The head turns with the shoulders; it never lifts.

Why can I not breathe when swimming freestyle?

The most common reason is holding your breath while your face is underwater. Carbon dioxide builds up, you feel air hunger, and the single breath at the surface is too short to clear it. Exhale continuously underwater so the surface breath is only an inhale. Swimming faster than your technique supports and lifting your head are the next two causes.

Is bilateral breathing better than breathing every 2 strokes?

Neither is universally better. Bilateral breathing (every 3 strokes) balances your stroke between both sides and lets you see both sides in open water, but it gives you fewer breaths per length. Breathing every 2 strokes is easier at pace. Many swimmers use every 2 for hard repeats and every 3 for easy swimming and open water.

Why do my legs sink when I lift my head to breathe?

Lifting the head pushes the hips down like a seesaw, so your legs drop and drag increases. Keep your head in line with your spine, rotate it with your shoulders and keep one goggle in the water while you breathe. If you need to look up, do it in open water with a quick sighting stroke, not on every breath.

Should I do breath-holding sets to get better at breathing?

No. Holding your breath on purpose does not teach you to breathe in freestyle, and breath-holding underwater can cause blackouts, including in shallow water. Train a relaxed, continuous exhale instead, and never practise breath holding alone.

How to Breathe When Swimming Freestyle

Q: How often should you breathe in freestyle?

Most swimmers breathe every 2 strokes (one breath per stroke cycle, always to the same side) or every 3 strokes (alternating sides). Breathe as often as you need to stay relaxed. A beginner who is gasping should breathe every 2 strokes and slow down, not hold on for a breath every 3 or 4 strokes.

Q: Why am I out of breath after 2 laps?

Usually it is breathing and pacing rather than fitness: holding your breath, starting too fast, lifting your head or kicking hard to keep your legs up. Slow down until you can finish a length feeling you could do another, exhale underwater and take 20 to 30 seconds of rest at the wall. Short repeats like 8 x 25m build continuous swimming faster than forcing 4 laps non-stop.

Why you run out of air in freestyle and how to fix it: exhale underwater, breathe every 2 or 3 strokes, 3 breathing drills and a 1,200m practice set.

Breathe out steadily while your face is in the water, turn your head with your body and take a quick breath beside the bow wave. Almost every freestyle breathing problem is a problem with the exhale, the head position or the pace.

How to Breathe While Swimming Freestyle

Freestyle breathing is four small moves in a fixed order. Each one is easy alone; the skill is chaining them without a pause, so the stroke never stops for air.

The sections below take the usual failures one by one. For the full stroke, read the freestyle technique guide .

Why Can't I Breathe When Swimming Freestyle?

Most often you are holding your breath underwater, then trying to exhale and inhale in the one second your mouth is out. Your urge to breathe is driven mainly by carbon dioxide building up in your body, so a held breath produces air hunger even when you have plenty of oxygen. The fix is to move the exhale underwater.

The other usual causes are swimming faster than your technique supports, lifting your head and kicking hard to compensate. Each one is covered below. If you get chest pain, dizziness or wheezing that does not settle after a rest, stop and speak to a doctor before you keep training.

Exhale Underwater: How to Blow Bubbles in Freestyle

Exhale through your nose and mouth continuously from the moment your face is in the water, and let the last of it out as you turn to breathe. Humming is a useful cue because it keeps the exhale going for the whole stroke cycle.

Do not try to blow out all your air at once, and do not push so hard that you run empty halfway through. A relaxed, even stream is enough. At the wall, practise with your face in the water and a long exhale before you swim a single stroke.

How Often Should You Breathe in Freestyle?

Breathe as often as you need to stay relaxed. A stroke here means one arm pull, so breathing every 2 strokes gives you one breath per full cycle, always to the same side. Breathing every 3 strokes alternates sides, and every 4 is the same side with longer gaps.

Bilateral Breathing or Every 2 Strokes?

Use both. Bilateral breathing is worth learning because it keeps your rotation even on both sides and lets you check for waves, other swimmers and the next buoy on either side in open water. Breathing every 2 is better when you swim fast or tire, because you get more air per length.

A simple plan: swim your easy repeats every 3 once that is comfortable and use every 2 for the hard ones. If you only ever breathe to one side, try the same distance breathing to your weak side with a short rest; it will feel clumsy at first and get easier within a few sessions. More about open water sighting is in the open water sighting guide .

Why Am I Out of Breath After 2 Laps?

Very often it is breathing and pacing, not fitness. A runner or cyclist with a strong engine can still be winded after 50m because swimming punishes held breaths, a head that lifts and a pace that starts too fast. Fix those and the same fitness carries you much further.

The beginner swim workouts use exactly this structure and add distance gradually.

Why Does Lifting My Head Make My Legs Sink?

Your body works like a seesaw: when the head goes up, the hips and legs go down. Lifting your head to breathe drops your legs and slows you down, which makes you more tired and more desperate for the next breath.

Keep your head in line with your spine, looking at the bottom of the pool, and turn it only as far as your shoulders roll. If your mouth does not reach the air, roll a little more, rather than lifting. The body position guide has the drills, and a centre snorkel lets you feel a level head without worrying about air.

3 Freestyle Breathing Drills

Use these in your warm-up or between main sets. Do them with no time pressure and stop when your form slips.

A 1,200m Breathing Practice Set

This session moves from every 2 strokes to every 3 and ends with a choice, so you learn which one you hold when tired. Total distance: 1,200 metres, about 35 to 45 minutes with rest in a 25m pool.

Do not turn the drill into a breath-holding test. If you ever feel dizzy or tingly, stop and rest at the wall. Repeat the session twice a week for two or three weeks before you try longer repeats.

Build Breathing Into a Program

AquaPlan's First 1500m program is a separate eight-week plan with two sessions per week. It is for swimmers who can already swim 4 × 50m with rest between each, and it builds the stroke rhythm and continuous swimming that relaxed breathing depends on. After signing in, review the weeks and start on Free with the existing plan limits.

Review the First 1500m program . Free keeps one Garmin/FIT export to try on your watch. Premium adds the whole plan on your Garmin calendar, a complete plan PDF, unlimited saved plans, and full training history.

Breathing progression

Technique · 1200m total

200m Easy warm-up, exhale the whole length — GA1 · Rest 30s · Hum or blow bubbles from the moment your face goes in until you turn to breathe.
4 × 25m Side-kick breathing drill — TU · Rest 15s between repeats · Kick on your side with the lower arm extended. Breathe three times, then switch sides.
4 × 50m Freestyle, breathe every 2 strokes — GA1 · Rest 20s between repeats · Same side each time. Long exhale, short inhale, no head lift.
4 × 50m Freestyle, breathe every 3 strokes — GA1 · Rest 20s between repeats · Alternate sides. If you feel air hunger, drop back to every 2 for the next repeat.
4 × 100m Choose your rhythm — GA1 · Rest 30s between repeats · Every 2 or every 3, whichever keeps you relaxed. Stop at 2 repeats if form falls apart.
100m Easy cool-down — ReKom · Any stroke, any breathing pattern.

Try it in AquaPlan

Review the First 1500m program

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Written and maintained by AquaPlan Team, Swim Training & Product.

The AquaPlan team builds swim-training software for structured pool workouts, Garmin-compatible FIT export, printable workout PDFs, and progress tracking.

Focus areas: Structured swim workout design, Garmin-compatible FIT file export, Pool training plans and workout-library systems, Swim training tools for web, iOS, and Android.

Editorial standard: AquaPlan is built by lifelong swimmers — 20+ years in the water, competitive racing, and countless hours on deck. Our training guides come from that experience, not a content mill.

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