Why Swimmers Have Worse Breathing Than You Think: The Truth About Swimming and Breath Mechanics

"You must get a lot of swimmers with great breathing, right?"

Wrong.

When people find out I'm a breath coach, swimmers are always the first example they bring up. "Swimmers must be amazing breathers," they say. "They literally practice breathing as part of their sport."

Here's the reality: Swimmers are often some of the worst breathers I work with.

And it's not their fault. The very nature of swimming creates breathing patterns that wreck your respiratory mechanics on land.

The Swimmer Breathing Paradox

Swimming is one of the most breath-demanding sports on the planet. Yet the constraints of the sport—specifically, avoiding water inhalation—force swimmers into breathing patterns that create long-term dysfunction.

The Mouth Breathing Problem

Here's the issue: Swimmers have to mouth breathe to avoid inhaling water through their nose.

This isn't optional. When you're rotating to breathe during freestyle, you have milliseconds to get air. You can't afford to breathe nasally. So you develop a habit of explosive mouth breathing—quick, shallow gasps that get you oxygen without drowning you.

The problem? This becomes your default breathing pattern everywhere.

On land, during dryland training, during lifting sessions, even at rest—swimmers default to mouth breathing because that's what thousands of hours in the pool have trained them to do.

Why Mouth Breathing Destroys Your Breathing Efficiency

Mouth breathing bypasses your body's natural air filtration, humidification, and regulation system. Here's what happens:

Immediate effects:

• Reduces oxygen uptake efficiency
• Over-breathing (taking in more air than needed)
• Dry mouth and throat
• Increased respiratory water loss
• Higher perceived exertion

Long-term consequences:

• Poor CO2 tolerance
• Weakened diaphragm function
• Forward head posture
• Reduced nasal airway capacity (use it or lose it)
• Chronic over-breathing pattern

Swimmers spend years training their bodies to be bad breathers on land.

The Overhead Mobility Challenge

Swimming adds another layer of breathing dysfunction that most people never consider: overhead shoulder movement under cardiovascular fatigue.

Why This Matters

Swimming is one of the few endurance-heavy sports that demands continuous overhead shoulder mobility while you're under significant cardiovascular stress.

Think about it:

• Runners? Arms stay below shoulder height
• Cyclists? Locked into a forward position
• Rowers? Pulling motion, not overhead
• Swimmers? Constant overhead rotation for 60-120+ minutes

This creates a unique breathing challenge.

The Thoracic-Shoulder-Breathing Connection

Your shoulder mechanics directly impact your breathing mechanics. Here's how:

1. Rib Cage Mobility Restrictions

Overhead shoulder movement requires thoracic spine extension and rib cage expansion. When you're fatigued:

• Your thoracic spine stiffens
• Rib cage mobility decreases
• Breathing becomes more labored
• You compensate with accessory breathing muscles (neck, upper traps)

2. Scalene and Upper Trap Overuse

Swimmers develop overactive scalenes and upper traps because:

• They're used for both breathing AND shoulder elevation
• In the pool, these muscles are doing double duty constantly
• Over time, they become the primary breathing muscles (they shouldn't be)

3. Diaphragm Inhibition

When your upper body is constantly working overhead under fatigue:

• Your diaphragm gets "crowded out"
• Breathing becomes more shallow and chest-dominant
• You lose the ability to take full, diaphragmatic breaths
• This compounds the mouth breathing problem

Result? Swimmers develop a breathing pattern that's shallow, chest-dominant, and mouth-based—the exact opposite of what you want for optimal performance.

Common Breathing Dysfunctions in Swimmers

1. Chronic Hyperventilation

Swimmers often over-breathe because they've trained themselves to "get air whenever possible." In the pool, you breathe when you can—every 2, 3, or 4 strokes. This creates an unconscious pattern of air anxiety.

On land, this manifests as:

• Breathing more than needed at rest
• Quick, shallow breathing during exertion
• Poor breath hold capacity
• Inability to stay calm when breathing is restricted

2. Reverse Breathing Pattern

Watch a swimmer breathe at rest. Many of them will:

• Lift their chest on inhale
• Barely move their abdomen
• Use their neck muscles visibly
• Have shallow, rapid breathing

This is called "paradoxical breathing" or "reverse breathing"—the exact opposite of healthy, diaphragmatic breathing.

3. Poor Nasal Function

Years of mouth breathing in the pool lead to:

• Reduced nasal airway capacity
• Inability to nasal breathe during even moderate exercise
• Mouth breathing becoming the default everywhere
• Nasal congestion (because the airways aren't being used)

4. Breath Hold Anxiety

Ironically, despite spending hours holding their breath underwater, many swimmers develop breath hold anxiety on land.

Why? In the pool, breath holds are controlled and expected. On land, when you ask them to hold their breath after an exhale (which builds CO2 tolerance), they panic. They've never trained their bodies to tolerate rising CO2 in a non-swimming context.

The Dryland Training Problem

These breathing issues become amplified during dryland training—weights, plyometrics, conditioning work.

Swimmers often:

• Hold their breath incorrectly during lifts
• Hyperventilate between sets
• Struggle with breath control during high-intensity intervals
• Develop neck pain and upper trap tightness (from accessory muscle breathing)
• Have poor core stability (because they're not breathing with their diaphragm)

The very training meant to improve their swimming performance is limited by their dysfunctional breathing patterns.

The "Bilateral Breathing" Myth

Many swim coaches emphasize bilateral breathing (breathing on both sides during freestyle) as a solution to breathing problems.

Does it help? Slightly, for symmetry.

Does it fix the core breathing dysfunction? No.

Bilateral breathing helps balance your stroke and prevent rotation asymmetry. But it doesn't address:

• Mouth breathing dependency
• Poor diaphragm function
• Overactive accessory breathing muscles
• CO2 intolerance
• Nasal airway dysfunction

You're still taking rapid, shallow mouth breaths—just alternating sides.

How to Fix Swimmer Breathing Dysfunction

The good news: These patterns are fixable. Here's where to start.

1. Relearn Nasal Breathing (On Land)

Start simple: Breathe through your nose during all non-swimming activities.

• Warm-ups: 100% nasal
• Cooldowns: 100% nasal
• Dryland work: Start with nasal, switch to mouth only when absolutely necessary
• Rest periods: Nasal only
• Daily life: Close your mouth

This will feel uncomfortable at first. Your nasal airways have been underused for years. Give it 2-4 weeks of consistent practice.

2. Retrain Your Diaphragm

Swimmers need to relearn how to breathe with their diaphragm, not their chest and neck.

Daily diaphragmatic breathing practice:

• Lie on your back, knees bent
• Place one hand on chest, one on belly
• Breathe so only the belly hand moves
• 5-10 minutes daily
• Nasal breathing only

This reprograms your brain to use your primary breathing muscle correctly.

3. Build CO2 Tolerance (Outside the Pool)

Swimmers need to get comfortable with rising CO2 levels outside of swimming-specific breath holds.

Simple CO2 tolerance drill:

• Exhale normally
• Hold your breath (after the exhale)
• Walk and count your steps
• Resume breathing when you feel the urge (not panic, just urge)
• Goal: 40+ steps initially, work up to 60+

This teaches your body that rising CO2 is safe and doesn't require immediate mouth breathing.

4. Address Thoracic and Shoulder Mobility

Your breathing mechanics are only as good as your rib cage and shoulder mobility.

Key areas to address:

• Thoracic extension (foam roller, cat-cow stretches)
• Shoulder internal/external rotation
• Rib cage expansion exercises
• Lat stretches (tight lats restrict rib cage movement)

Better shoulder and thoracic mobility = better breathing mechanics under fatigue.

5. Practice Strategic Breathing During Dryland

During strength and conditioning work:

Heavy lifts:

• Inhale before the rep
• Hold and brace during the lift
• Exhale at lockout
• Breathe nasally between sets (forces slower recovery breathing)

Conditioning work:

• Maintain nasal breathing as long as possible
• Only switch to mouth breathing when absolutely necessary
• Return to nasal breathing as soon as possible during recovery

This trains your body to default to better breathing patterns even under stress.

6. Mouth Tape at Night

Many swimmers mouth breathe during sleep (because it's their default pattern). This disrupts sleep quality and reinforces the dysfunction.

Solution: Medical mouth tape at night.

• Forces nasal breathing during sleep
• Improves sleep quality
• Retrains your default breathing pattern
• Helps restore nasal airway function

Start with a small piece of tape. If you have significant nasal congestion, work with a provider first.

What About Breathing in the Pool?

Here's the thing: You can't change your breathing mechanics in the pool. You still need to mouth breathe to avoid inhaling water.

But you can:

1. Extend your breathing intervals gradually

If you currently breathe every 2 strokes, work toward every 3, then every 4. This builds CO2 tolerance within the swimming context.

2. Focus on full exhales underwater

Many swimmers hold their breath between breaths, then exhale and inhale quickly. Instead:

• Exhale slowly and fully underwater
• This reduces the urgency of the next breath
• Builds CO2 tolerance
• Makes your breathing more controlled

3. Practice breath holds after warm-up

Add static breath hold practice after your warm-up:

• Hold after exhale (builds CO2 tolerance)
• Hold after inhale (builds O2 efficiency)
• This separate training improves your overall breathing capacity

4. Incorporate hypoxic training strategically

Hypoxic sets (reduced breathing frequency) have their place. Use them strategically:

• Not every practice
• Not to total failure
• As a tool to build breath control and CO2 tolerance
• Always under proper supervision

The goal isn't to eliminate mouth breathing in the pool—it's to ensure your breathing mechanics on land are excellent, so you're not fighting poor patterns everywhere else.

The Performance Impact

When swimmers address their breathing dysfunction, the improvements are dramatic:

In the pool:

• Better breath control during races
• Less panic when breathing is restricted
• Improved oxygen efficiency
• Faster recovery between intervals

On land:

• Better strength gains (proper bracing and core stability)
• Improved conditioning (higher work capacity)
• Reduced neck and upper trap pain
• Better posture and thoracic mobility

In life:

• Better sleep quality
• Lower resting heart rate
• Improved stress management
• Higher overall energy levels

The Bottom Line

If you're a swimmer and someone tells you "you must have great breathing," know this: Swimming creates some of the worst breathing habits in endurance sports.

Forced mouth breathing, overhead mechanics under fatigue, and poor nasal function conspire to wreck your breathing patterns on land.

But here's the good news: These patterns are completely fixable.

Relearn nasal breathing. Retrain your diaphragm. Build CO2 tolerance outside the pool. Address your shoulder and thoracic mobility. Practice strategic breathing during dryland training.

Do this work, and you won't just become a better swimmer. You'll become a better breather—in the pool, in the gym, and in life.

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Ready to Fix Your Swimmer Breathing?

If you're a swimmer struggling with breathing on land—poor nasal function, neck pain, limited dryland performance—you're not alone. And the solution isn't more pool time.

Book a free 15-minute consultation with Zack to:

• Assess your specific breathing dysfunctions
• Get a personalized plan to fix your mechanics
• Learn how to maximize performance both in and out of the water

Schedule Your Free Consultation →

For Swim Coaches: Want to integrate breathing fundamentals into your dryland programming? Learn how evidence-based breathing protocols can give your swimmers an edge where most programs miss it entirely.