Swimming and breathing...

[khiemtran]

So, one of my ambitions this year is to learn to breath under water...


The first part is easier than it sounds, because it's the part where I breath out under water. This is because, in freestyle, one of the tricks to good body position is to not have your lungs full of stale air. Apart from actually making it harder to stretch the intervals between breaths, it also makes your upper torso more bouyant, which in turn makes your legs sink, leading to extra drag.

All this I know intellectually, but I've got a bad habit I need to work on where I start holding my breath as I start getting tired. I'm therefore making a special effort now to breath out all the way through the stroke, and already I can feel my chest sinking lower each stroke.

The second part is slightly harder. Breathing in under water is just a little bit tricky, but, fortunately, there is also a little trick here. When you have a decent stroke and your head is still, a bow wave will form around the top of your head. This means there's a sort of permanent peak of water that gets pushed along in front of you. If you watch video of someone like Ian Thorpe, it's actually amazing just how big this bow wave can get.

Since there's a peak in front of your head, there's naturally going to be a trough just behind it, which means there'll be a tiny pocket of air below the waterline where you can breath without lifting your head. This is one of the reasons why, when you watch elite swimmers, it often seems like they're barely breathing at all. Not lifting your head means you are more streamlined and therefore faster.

So far, I'm just starting to get a feel for breathing in the pocket, but it's a bit hit-and-miss. I think this is largely because my head is still moving too much on my breathing stroke and the bow wave is getting disrupted. But when it does work, it feels like magic. There's something special about flying through the water with your head so low it makes the water seem like it's jetting past you. (It's a bit like the difference between seeing the road sail serenely by from the driver's seat of a normal car, versus watching it rocket past when your head is only centimetres off the ground.)

So, there you have it. Breathing under water. Let's hope I can pull it off.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

You learn something new every day! So that's why those elite swimmers appear to be able to go so far on one breath, they are sneakily breathing underwater.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Of course, in most cases, they can also go amazing distances on a single breath. That's another thing I need to work on, especially for tumble turns.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Ha! I never knew about that pocket. (I thought you were going to talk about apnea/free-diving.)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Free-diving sounds like a nightmare to me, but maybe that's just a sign that my breath control isn't what it could be.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a nightmare to me, too; I fear the thought of not being able to breathe when I want! My husband loves it and finds it compelling, though. :P

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

What is apnea/free-diving? I'm getting nervous from the few things you guys are saying.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Basically, diving or swimming while holding one's breath (with or without equipment such as weights, flippers and cables). It turns out people can dive to quite amazing depths with enough training and perseverance.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQITWbAaDx0 (it is a fictional montage, but the lady--champion freediver--who filmed it did it while holding her breath, as did the diver); it's nice to watch.

And this is a record-setting video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUcpzf0rbAw 101m and now outdated! His dive took 4 minutes. O.O

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow. That first one had me terrified--I think it brings back my deepseated fears of drowning. And yet it is so beautiful, and you must feel so alive and, as Julien says, in the moment when you do it. But yikes.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Do you know I don't even like holding my head under the water in the bathtub because I have a fear of someone coming in and holding me under until I drown? I do still put my head under, but my heart pounds, YOU IDIOT! at me the whole time. :-/

It took me a while to be comfy scuba diving--even though it was something that always interested me--because I can't stand the thought of not being able to rise to the surface whenever I want. I got over it, but for a while, I wasn't sure I would.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

That must have been a very brave thing to do! I've dived a bit (although my PADI certification has probably lapsed ages ago), but I can still remember how nervous I felt with the idea that I couldn't just dart back up to the surface if something went wrong. Not panic, as such, but the fear of panic.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

It is funny that I never thought I would be afraid...until it happened. We weren't even in deep water, having just waded in from the beach with our gear and stopped at about a meter deep to do our first exercises. As soon as I put the regulator in my mouth, I got very uncomfortable. When my mask starting leaking and the salt water began to burn my eyes, I thought that was the end of my diving dreams. :P I had to hold the instructor's hand (a little lady who only measured about 153cm--I'm 173 :P) on the first dive. I'm level 2 in PADI certification now, though, so persistence...and lots of prayers.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow, a secret cache of air below the waterline. I had *no idea*.

Mind you, the way I flail about in the water, I could not possibly produce the bow wave that would, in turn, produce the pocket of air. But it's cool to learn about, all the same.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

The other cool thing is that when you are breathing in the pocket, at least one of your eyes will be underwater, so it feels like your mouth should be too. It's quite a leap of faith to breath in while it feels like you should be getting a mouthful of water instead of air.