The Front Crawl Stroke - Breathing Technique

This article explains how to breathe in the front crawl stroke. It explains during which phases of the stroke you must inhale and exhale, which breathing patterns are most commonly used and also gives you some additional tips.

In the front crawl stroke, also know as freestyle, breathing is a technique by itself that you need to master. Breathing is difficult to master because your head is submerged for the most part of the stroke and to inhale you need to rotate to the side in coordination with your arms.

How To Breathe in Front Crawl

  • In the front crawl stroke you need to synchronize the inhale with your arms' recovery. You inhale between the time one of your arms exits the water at the hips until it enters the water again in front of you.
  • When you swim front crawl, your body naturally rolls from side to side as one arm then the other pulls through the water. However, when breathing in, your body and head will rotate further so that your face and mouth can clear the water.
  • Your head should neither anticipate the rotation nor be lifted for breathing as this disrupts balance. Lifting the head to breathe in is a common error beginners make.
  • You should start to exhale as soon as your face turns downwards in the water.
  • You should exhale continuously while your face is in the water.
  • Your lungs should be empty just before your mouth clears the water to inhale again. There isn't enough time to both inhale and exhale during one arm's recovery.

Unilateral and Bilateral Breathing

The most common breathing patterns in the freestyle stroke are unilateral breathing and bilateral breathing.

Unilateral breathing: In unilateral breathing you breathe in every second armstroke. This means you always breathe in on the same side. This gives you plenty of oxygen and is especially useful for short sprint distances. However, if you only use this breathing pattern, your swim stroke can become lopsided.

Bilateral breathing: In bilateral breathing you breathe in every third armstroke. This means you alternate the sides on which you breathe in. This pattern is more symmetrical and gives you better balance as it forces you to breathe on both sides. This pattern is used in longer distance and fitness swimming.

If you have mastered these popular breathing patterns you will have no problem to use other variations as needed. For example you can breathe every fourth or every fifth stroke. Or you can breathe ten times to the left, then ten times to the right, and so on. Or you can change breathing sides with each pool length.

Swimming Tips

In my opinion it is important to be able to breathe in on both sides, so that you can adapt to any situation you might encounter. For example, in a triathlon event you might be stuck with a competitor splashing with his feet right in your face. If you can only breathe in on the side he is splashing into this can be problematic.

Also, as explained above, always breathing in on the same side can make your stroke asymmetrical. This in turn makes you less efficient and can also lead to swimming injuries, for example swimmer's shoulder. So it really is best to take the time and learn to breathe in on both sides.

We have some basic breathing and swimming drills to learn how to coordinate breathing and swimming in the freestyle stroke. As an alternative you can also follow our swimming drills to learn how to swim freestyle. If you practice those you will integrate breathing naturally in your stroke.

Good luck!

Related Pages


Back from Front Crawl Stroke - Swimming and Breathing Tips to Freestyle Stroke