Most adult swimmers breathe to one side only. It’s comfortable, it’s natural, and it’s holding you back.
Bilateral breathing — breathing every 3 strokes, alternating sides — is harder to learn but significantly more useful. Here’s why and how.
Why Bilateral Breathing Matters
Symmetry: One-sided breathing causes stroke asymmetry. Your stroke on your breathing side develops differently from your non-breathing side. Over time, this creates imbalance in your pull, rotation, and body position.
Awareness: When you only breathe to the right, you can’t see your left arm’s technique. Bilateral breathing forces you to develop both sides equally — and gives you a view of both arms.
Open water: In open water swimming, you need to sight and breathe in any direction depending on conditions. Bilateral breathing is essential for navigating in open water.
Stroke efficiency: Breathing every 3 strokes instead of every 2 forces longer breath-holding, which naturally improves CO2 tolerance over time.
Why It’s Hard (And Why That’s Worth It)
Bilateral breathing feels unnatural at first because one side of your face won’t rotate enough. Most swimmers have much less rotation on their non-dominant side — which is exactly the problem it fixes.
Expect 3–6 weeks of discomfort before it starts feeling natural. Push through it.
Step-by-Step: How to Learn Bilateral Breathing
Week 1–2: Side kick drill Kick on your non-dominant side for 25m. This forces rotation to that side and builds the muscle memory for turning your face out of the water.
Do 4×50m side kick drills per session, alternating sides equally. :20 rest.
Week 2–3: 3-stroke breathing drills Swim full freestyle, breathing every 3 strokes deliberately. If you need to breathe every 2, allow it but keep trying 3.
Do 4×100m breathing every 3, :20 rest. It’s okay to struggle.
Week 4+: Integration Make bilateral breathing your default in easy and moderate swims. In hard interval sets, revert to every-2 breathing if needed — but practice bilateral during warm-up and cool-down always.
Common Mistakes
Twisting your head instead of rotating your body: The breath should come from body rotation, not by cranking your neck sideways.
Not rotating enough on the non-dominant side: You need equal rotation on both sides. If you’re barely turning on your left side, do more side kick drills on the left.
Holding your breath too long: Exhale continuously underwater between breaths. When you turn to breathe, your lungs should already be mostly empty.
Tracking Progress
Your SWOLF score often improves as bilateral breathing develops, because your stroke becomes more symmetrical and efficient. Log your SWOLF in SwimBeat over a few weeks of bilateral breathing practice — it’s a useful indirect measure of whether the symmetry is improving.