Always Out of Breath Swimming Freestyle? One Place to Start

You swim one lap and feel as though you have sprinted up a hill. It is easy to assume that fitness is the problem. Sometimes fitness contributes, but breathing can feel difficult for several different reasons. One common pattern worth exploring is what happens to your exhale while your face is in the water.

I'm Audrey. When I work with a swimmer who feels out of breath, one of the first things I observe is what happens between breaths—not only the moment they turn to inhale.

The hidden habit

One pattern I often see is this: the face goes into the water, and the swimmer holds or delays the exhale. It can feel instinctive, as though they are saving air.

Then the moment comes to breathe, and now there are two jobs in one tiny window: get the old air out and the new air in. Half a second. It can't be done calmly. So every breath is rushed, shallow, a little desperate.

That urgent “I need air now” feeling can have several causes. Holding or delaying the exhale is one pattern that may contribute, because too much of the breathing work is left for the brief turn to air.

One breathing pattern to explore

Explore a slow, steady exhale while your face is in the water. The aim is to release enough air that you are not trying to empty your lungs and inhale during the same brief turn to breathe.

Then, when you turn for air, there's only one job left — a quick, easy inhale. The mouth is empty. The air just falls in.

This is why the very first skill in my course isn't a stroke at all. It's called bobs. You stand in shallow water, you sink, you exhale — you watch your own bubbles — and you rise for a quiet breath. It looks like nothing. It rebuilds your relationship with air.

Try this on your next swim

Next time you're at the pool, before you swim a single stroke: ten bobs. Sink, and sigh the air out — all of it, gently.

Notice: can you see your bubbles? Does the exhale get longer as you relax? That's the whole exercise. Ten calm bobs may teach you more about your breathing than another ten rushed laps.