Modern swimmers, especially beginners, often discover that the hardest part of swimming isn’t building muscle or endurance at all. It’s learning how to breathe. Breathing on land is automatic; you never have to think about it.
In water, however, breathing becomes a conscious skill that must be coordinated with movement. You have to inhale quickly during those brief moments your mouth is above water, exhale steadily while your face is submerged, and time all of this with your arm strokes and kicks. It’s no wonder many new swimmers feel overwhelmed. In fact, one of the most misunderstood aspects of swimming difficulty is breathing itself.
Many beginners unknowingly hold their breath or breathe irregularly in the water, leading to breathlessness, tension, and fatigue – often within seconds of starting. This is why a fast runner or fit athlete can feel utterly exhausted after just one length of the pool. The issue isn’t their fitness; it’s their breathing technique.
Why Breathing Makes Swimming Feel Harder Than Running
Have you ever wondered why swimming can feel harder than running or cycling, even if you’re in great shape? The answer lies in the way breathing is restricted in the water. Unlike land-based exercise, swimming doesn’t let you breathe whenever you want. When you run, you can take a breath with each stride if needed; when you swim, you can only inhale when your face is out of the water (and only for a split second, if you’re doing front crawl). This means swimmers get less oxygen while exercising, which is a big reason people often feel more exhausted after 30 minutes of swimming than 30 minutes of running. The body is working hard with limited air intake, causing your heart rate and fatigue to spike faster if your breathing technique isn’t efficient.
For many people, that sudden feeling of breathlessness in the pool leads to a pounding chest and the thought that “I must be out of shape.” But in reality, even a marathon runner or triathlete can struggle in the pool if they haven’t learned how to breathe properly in water. Swimming is a different beast because you don’t have the luxury of breathing whenever you want. It’s not your lungs or heart failing you, it’s the unfamiliar breathing rhythm.
In fact, swimming coach observations and research confirm that poor breathing technique is usually the culprit behind swimmers getting winded quickly, not a lack of fitness. The good news is that once you do master breathing, your perceived effort plummets and swimming feels much easier.
The “Breathing Barrier”: Psychological and Physical
Almost every new swimmer experiences the “breathing barrier” – the point where discomfort and fear around breathing hold them back more than any physical limitation. This barrier is as much psychological as it is physical. On land, we’re wired to breathe without thinking, but the moment you put your face in water, that natural instinct is disrupted.
As one swim coach put it, when your face is underwater “the option to breathe in is taken away,” and we subconsciously panic that we’ll run out of air or even inhale water. It’s an automatic fear response: water hits your face, you feel you can’t breathe freely, and your mind screams for you to lift your head. This can trigger a cascade of anxiety – a tight chest, racing heart, even a bit of claustrophobia about being under water. Many people associate swimming with that sensation of shortness of breath, water up the nose, or even choking on water, all of which feed the mental block.
Physically, what often happens is breath-holding. A huge number of beginners instinctively hold their breath under water without realizing it. It feels counterintuitive to exhale when you’re face-down – after all, we hold our breath under water when we’re not swimming. So new swimmers will take a gulp of air, submerge, then hold onto that breath as long as possible, only blowing it out when they absolutely need to inhale again.
Some might even skip exhaling entirely, or only let a tiny trickle of air out. The result? You start to feel carbon dioxide (CO2) buildup in your lungs, which creates a burning urge to breathe. Holding your breath = building up CO2 and tension. Your body’s CO2 levels rise and that, not a lack of oxygen, is what triggers the urgent “I need to breathe now” sensation that can border on panic.
When you finally lift your head to gasp for air, you’re still full of stale air that you never exhaled. Imagine trying to take a deep breath without first breathing out – you can’t; your lungs already have old air in them. So that gasp doesn’t give you as much oxygen as you hope, leaving you still feeling winded. Many beginners then panic more, lift their heads higher or more often, and in doing so their body position sinks, making it harder to swim. It’s a vicious cycle: hold breath -> CO2 build-up -> panic -> lift head -> lose rhythm and floatation -> work harder -> feel more out of breath.
As one swim school explained, “When you hold your breath, your body is unable to release carbon dioxide and you will begin to fatigue. This causes a sense of urgency or ‘needing’ to breathe and results in a swimmer lifting their head, thus losing a stable body position and further fatiguing the body”. In simple terms, holding your breath makes everything harder. It not only exhausts you, it also creates a feeling of fear – and no one, regardless of age or fitness, can learn or swim well when gripped by fear.
It’s Not a Fitness Issue, Even Athletes Struggle
If you’re a beginner swimmer (or even a returning swimmer out of practice), it’s important to recognise that struggling with breathing does not mean you’re out of shape. You could be a seasoned runner, cyclist, or gym-goer and still find yourself gasping after a single pool length. This can be humbling – many very fit people hop in the pool expecting an easy workout and are shocked at how winded they feel. But again, it comes down to technique and adaptation, not raw fitness.
Swimming uses muscles in new ways and forces a controlled breathing pattern. A runner’s lungs might be conditioned for steady-state cardio, but in swimming those lungs need to adapt to a cycle of quick inhales and long exhales in sync with arm strokes. Until that skill is learned, all the fitness in the world won’t prevent you from getting winded. In fact, an average healthy person has plenty of lung capacity and strength to swim – it’s the technique that unlocks it. In one swim school’s experience, a healthy individual should have no problem swimming a decent distance (say, 20 feet underwater) as long as they exhale properly; if they don’t, they’ll feel out of breath much sooner than they should. This shows that your body is capable, but the wrong breathing technique tricks you into feeling spent.
Even advanced swimmers face this if they mess up their breathing. For example, competitive swimmers practice bilateral breathing (breathing to both sides) to even out their stroke. If they start holding their breath and “stockpiling CO2” during longer stretches between breaths, even a strong swimmer will start to feel desperate for air and may revert to breathing every stroke on their preferred side. That often leads to a lopsided stroke and other form issues – all stemming from a breathing mistake. The takeaway here is that breathing is the linchpin. It’s not just a beginner problem; it remains central at every level of swimming.
So, if you’re huffing and puffing after a short swim, don’t automatically blame your conditioning. Ask instead: Am I breathing correctly? Chances are, there’s room to improve your technique and mindset around breathing. And once you do, you’ll likely find you can swim much farther and faster without feeling like your lungs are on fire.
Mastering the Art of Breathing in Water
The first fundamental skill any swimmer needs to learn is proper breathing technique. In fact, many swim instructors will spend the entire first lesson just on breathing practice – before ever tackling full strokes. Getting this foundation right will pay off enormously. Here are some key principles and tips for mastering breathing in the water:
Exhale Underwater (Don’t Hold Your Breath)
This is rule #1. As soon as your face is in the water, start exhaling slowly and continuously through your mouth or nose (or both). You can hum “mmmm” or blow bubbles – whatever reminds you to keep a steady stream of air going out. By the time you rotate or lift your head to inhale, you should have already blown most or all of your air out underwater. This way, your inhalation can be quick and efficient, filling your lungs with fresh air. If you hold your breath underwater and then try to both exhale and inhale during the short window your mouth is above water, you’ll feel rushed and end up gasping. Empty your lungs in the water so you can fill them when you surface.
Breathe Rhythmically and Frequently
New swimmers often try to “tough it out” by taking as few breaths as possible, perhaps thinking it’s what good swimmers do. In reality, you should breathe as often as you need to maintain a comfortable rhythm. In freestyle (front crawl), many beginners start by breathing every two strokes (always to the same side) – that’s totally fine.
You can later experiment with every three strokes (alternating sides) for a more balanced stroke, but in the beginning the priority is to not hold your breath too long. Frequent breathing helps prevent that desperate air hunger and keeps your body oxygenated so you don’t tie up or panic. Imagine your breath as part of your stroke rhythm: stroke, stroke, breathe… stroke, stroke, breathe… like a metronome. Consistent, rhythmic breathing will also help you stay relaxed and smooth in the water.
Use Your Nose (and Mouth)
Exhaling through your nose can help prevent water from sneaking up your nostrils, which is a sensation that bothers a lot of people. If water up the nose is an issue for you, focus on a gentle “nose exhale” whenever your face is submerged – you’ll notice far less of that sting. (Some swimmers hum or make an “mmm” sound to ensure they’re exhaling through the nose.) You can exhale through your mouth too – in fact doing both is often easiest.
The key is a steady “bubbling” exhale that lasts the entire time your face is in the water. Then, when you turn to breathe, inhale through your mouth (since you can get air in quicker that way). Nose for exhale, mouth for inhale is a common approach, but do what feels natural as long as you are exhaling in the water.
Practice “Bobs” and Drills
One of the simplest exercises to improve your breathing is something commonly called “bobs” – basically, standing in the shallow end and repeatedly bobbing under and up. You take a breath at the surface, submerge and blow bubbles out (emptying your lungs), then come up and inhale, and repeat. This drill ingrains the habit of exhaling underwater and breathing as a separate action. Swim schools teach this to kids from day one (often as a fun game of making bubbles). If you’re an adult learner, don’t skip the basic stuff – try bobs or gentle shallow-end breathing drills until you feel more relaxed about the process of letting air out under water.
The goal is to make exhaling underwater feel just as natural as exhaling on land. Over time, you won’t even have to think about it consciously – it becomes an automatic reflex, which is exactly what you want. Remember, exhalation is the most important part of the breathing process for swimmers – to get a full breath in, you must fully breathe out first.
Time Your Breaths with Your Stroke
Every stroke has “breathing spots” – moments when it’s easiest to take a breath. In freestyle, it’s when one arm is extending forward and the other is pushing back, and you rotate your body enough to get your mouth to the side. In breaststroke, it’s during the recovery when you lift your head as your arms sweep in. Work with an instructor or watch tutorial videos to understand when to breathe during a given stroke, then practice the timing.
A common beginner issue is trying to breathe too late or too early in the stroke cycle, which leads to rushed or awkward breaths. When you time it right, you’ll catch a quick breath in a split second without interrupting your flow. It may help to start by practicing breathing with support, like holding a kickboard or the pool wall while you dip your face in and out, or using fins to propel you so you can concentrate on when to turn your head to inhale.
Stay Relaxed and Don’t Fight the Water
This might sound more like a mindset tip, but it has a huge impact on breathing. The more you tense up, the more oxygen you burn and the shorter your breaths become. Focus on staying loose: unclench your jaw, release your neck tension, maybe even smile in the water (it’s hard to be stiff when you’re smiling!). If you feel yourself panicking or holding your breath, stand up or grab the side for a moment, reset with a few deep breaths, and then continue calmly. Some swimmers find that humming underwater or thinking of a calming mantra helps keep them from panicking.
Trust the water – if you are horizontal and relaxed, the water will support you. Panicking and thrashing only sink you lower, which in turn makes breathing harder. It’s a mental game: you have to convince yourself that you will get that next breath and that the water is not your enemy. This positive, patient mindset will allow you to focus on technique rather than fear.
Once it Clicks, Everything Else Gets Easier
Here’s the silver lining: once you overcome the breathing hurdle, everything else in swimming becomes easier. It’s truly a breakthrough moment. When you no longer feel anxious about getting your next breath, you can relax and finally concentrate on your strokes, kick, and body position. With proper breathing:
- You’ll relax in the water and float better. Tension is the enemy of buoyancy. If you’re nervous and tight, you tend to sink. When you’re calm and breathing steadily, your body is looser and more buoyant. Many swimmers find that as soon as they get into a comfortable breathing rhythm, suddenly they’re not fighting the water as much – they ride higher and feel more weightless. One coach described it well: as your breathing improves, you will find yourself more relaxed and thus able to float better.
- You’ll have more endurance with less effort. Efficient breathing delivers more oxygen to your muscles (and also prevents excess CO2 buildup that causes that desperate feeling). This means you can swim longer distances without feeling wiped out. Instead of burning up in a few lengths, you might surprise yourself by doing several laps continuously. More efficient breathing literally puts more fuel in your tank. Swimmers who learn to exhale fully and inhale efficiently often report that they “suddenly” feel a huge increase in stamina – not because their fitness drastically changed in a day, but because their muscles are finally getting the oxygen they need while swimming.
- Your strokes will improve. Once you’re not obsessing over each breath, you can pay more attention to your technique – how your hands catch the water, how your body rotates, etc. Also, breathing correctly often forces better timing and body rotation. For example, in freestyle, a good breath involves a body rotation to the side; when you nail that, you also happen to be performing a more textbook rotation for your stroke, which can lead to a better reach and pull. In other words, fixing your breathing can indirectly fix other aspects of your form. You’ll start to find a smooth rhythm where breath and movement blend together, often called the “flow” of swimming. It’s a fantastic feeling when it all clicks.
- Swimming will feel enjoyable, not survivalist. Perhaps most importantly, conquering the breathing barrier reduces fear and builds confidence. Instead of each lap feeling like a survival exercise (“How long can I make it before I have to stop and gasp?”), swimming becomes enjoyable and meditative. You start looking around underwater, noticing the tiles on the pool floor, or simply zoning out in a rhythmic trance as you go back and forth. Many swimmers say that a good, relaxed swim feels like therapy or meditation – and breathing is at the heart of that sensation. When you’re breathing well, you stay calm. And when you’re calm in the water, you can truly appreciate the almost zen-like experience that swimming can be.
If you’re still working on this skill, take heart: it will get easier with practice. Learning to exhale properly in water takes time – it might take several practice sessions before it feels natural. But once it clicks, everything else becomes easier. As one program noted, once you master exhalation, you get a better inhale, you relax, you have more oxygen in your body and feel less tired when swimming.
In short, you unlock the real joy of swimming. So celebrate each small victory, maybe today you managed to exhale smoothly without panic, or you swam two lengths with steady breathing, these are huge milestones that set the stage for all your future progress in the water.
Tools and Techniques to Overcome the Breathing Barrier
While practice and patience are the biggest factors, there are also some tools and techniques that can help you conquer breathing challenges more quickly and comfortably:
Use a Front-Mount Snorkel
A centre-mount swim snorkel is a game-changer for many swimmers struggling with breathing. This is not the kind of snorkel for sightseeing in the ocean, but a training snorkel that sticks straight up in front of your face. With a snorkel, you can swim without turning your head to breathe at all – you just continuously breathe in and out through the snorkel.
This might sound like a crutch, but it’s incredibly useful: it lets you focus on your stroke technique and getting comfortable putting your face in the water without worrying about timing your breaths. Many anxious swimmers find that using a snorkel for a while helps them maintain a calm, steady breathing rhythm and overcome the initial panic reflex. Over time, this builds confidence. At Swim Design Space, we often recommend the FINIS Original Swimmer’s Snorkel (a centre-mount snorkel) for learners who need that extra bit of security while training. (Pro tip: if you’re teaching a child or are new to snorkels, there’s even a junior version of this snorkel designed for smaller lungs. It makes breathing more manageable for kids aged ~8–12 by having a slightly shorter tube.)
Using a snorkel as a training aid for a few sessions can rapidly increase your comfort level in the water. You’ll learn what normal breathing should feel like (since you’re breathing normally through the tube), and you can then wean off the snorkel and start integrating the turning of the head to breathe, now that you’re no longer scared of the water aspect.
Try Swim Fins for Better Body Position
It might seem unrelated to breathing, but wearing a pair of swim fins (flippers) can help you focus on breathing by improving your overall stability and body position. Fins give you extra propulsion, which means you can maintain forward momentum with less effort from your arms – this frees up some mental bandwidth to think about breathing. More importantly, fins tend to lift your legs up toward the surface (because of the greater kicking force), which helps keep you horizontal.
A flatter, more streamlined body position makes breathing easier because you don’t have to lift up so far to get air. We’ve seen nervous adult swimmers and kids alike gain confidence when they put on fins like the FINIS Booster Fins suddenly they feel faster and more supported, and they can practice taking breaths without sinking. Think of fins as training wheels on a bike; they make the whole process more stable. Plus, they’re fun! Once you get the hang of breathing, you can gradually stop using the fins, but you’ll have already built correct habits.
(Safety note: Always use fins appropriate for your size and skill, and stick to pool guidelines – fins can make you go too fast if you’re not careful. The Booster Fins mentioned come in various kid sizes and are designed for training, not high-speed racing.)
Goggles and Comfortable Gear
It’s hard to relax and breathe well if your eyes are stinging or you’re worried about water up your nose. A good pair of goggles that don’t leak can dramatically reduce beginner anxiety. If you know you can open your eyes underwater and not have them burn, you’ll be less stressed. We suggest finding goggles that fit your face snugly – many adult swimmers like models such as the FINIS Bolt Goggles or FINIS Racer Ripple for their comfortable seal and clarity.
For kids, sometimes the fun factor can override fear: we’ve had success getting hesitant kids to put their faces in the water by giving them playful goggles like the FINIS Fruit Basket Kids’ Swim Goggles (which are fruit-scented and come in fun colors) or the whimsical FINIS Mermaid™ Goggles. Kids suddenly get excited to wear their “cool goggles” and forget about being scared of water in their eyes. Similarly, a well-fitted swim cap can keep hair out of the face so there’s one less distraction while breathing, and earplugs can help those who dislike water in their ears. Bottom line: comfort matters. If a piece of gear makes you feel more at ease and in control, it’s worth it.
(Pro tip: our Swim Design Space shop carries a range of training aids and comfy swim gear – the same kind our instructors use – so you can practice with confidence using quality equipment.)
Practice with a Kickboard or Pool Noodle
Isolating the breathing skill can help too. Grab a kickboard or even a pool noodle and hold on to it with your arms in front of you, so you don’t have to worry about arm strokes. Kick lightly and practice the breathing motion – turn your head to the side to inhale, then put your face back in and exhale in the water for a few seconds while you glide. The board will keep you afloat as you focus only on the breathing rhythm. This is a step between doing bobs in place and full-on swimming. It builds confidence that you can move and breathe without sinking.
As you get better, try to take longer exhales underwater (blow out slowly for 3, 4, 5 seconds) and calm, quick inhales (just a sip of air) when you turn your head. The goal is a smooth, relaxed exchange of air. Using a board or other flotation is completely fine when learning – it removes some variables so you can concentrate on one thing at a time (in this case, breathing). Many adults feel awkward doing “drills,” but trust us, even a few sessions of these focused practices can work wonders on your comfort level.
Enrol in a Class or Work with a Coach
Sometimes the fastest way to break through a mental barrier is with guidance from someone experienced. A good swim instructor can give you personalised feedback on your breathing technique – maybe you’re lifting your head too high, or not exhaling soon enough – and they can introduce exercises in a logical progression so you don’t get overwhelmed. They’ll also ensure you’re in a safe environment (shallow water, perhaps) as you practice, which can put your mind at ease. In our beginner classes at Swim Design Space, for example, we focus exclusively on underwater breathing skills in the very first lesson.
We’ve found that once a swimmer finds their comfort with breathing, their progress in all other areas (floating, kicking, stroke coordination) accelerates. In a class, you also get the reassurance that what you’re experiencing is normal – when you see fellow newbies coming up sputtering or needing a break, you realize you’re not alone and that it will get better for everyone with practice. An instructor can give you that calm voice when you’re panicking: “Relax, keep blowing those bubbles, you’re okay.” Sometimes that makes all the difference.
From Fearful to Fearless: A Swim Design Space Success Story
To illustrate how transformative overcoming the breathing barrier can be, consider a typical scenario we see often at Swim Design Space. A new adult swimmer – let’s call her Sarah – comes to us having struggled to swim despite being in decent shape. She tells us she can run 5 km easily, but in the pool she “can’t make it more than 30 seconds without gasping for air.”
During her first lesson at our Cheltenham location, it becomes clear that Sarah’s instinct is to hold her breath underwater. We spend a good chunk of the lesson standing in the shallow end, just practicing exhaling and relaxing. We show her how to blow bubbles and we even use a simple phrase: “breathe out gently, breathe in quickly” as a mantra. By the end of that session, Sarah can do a few bobs and feels slightly more at ease, but still not totally convinced.
Fast forward a couple of weeks: with each class, Sarah improves. She starts using a front-mount snorkel (which we provided in class) to swim short distances and realizes she can actually go 15–20 meters without that sense of dread because she’s breathing normally through the snorkel.
This boosts her confidence tremendously. Next, we wean off the snorkel and have her swim with a pair of fins and a light paddle board, breathing to the side every two strokes. Because the fins keep her moving, she suddenly does a full 25-meter length of the pool without stopping. When she stands up, she’s grinning ear to ear – “I can’t believe I did that!” The breakthrough wasn’t a sudden leap in fitness; it was the fact that she finally coordinated her breathing and stayed relaxed.
By the end of our beginner course, Sarah is swimming multiple lengths, timing her breaths effortlessly. She mentions how swimming has even become therapeutic for her – a far cry from the panic it used to induce. This kind of transformation – from fearful to fearless in the water – all starts with getting breathing under control. We’ve seen it time and time again: once the breathing clicks, a swimmer’s confidence soars. They are no longer mentally constrained by that “I can’t breathe” alarm, so they approach the water with a sense of calm curiosity rather than fear.
Whether it’s kids blowing bubbles for the first time or adults finally finding that steady rhythm, these victories are what we live for as instructors. We always remind our students: Swimming is 90% mental. Yes, there’s a physical skill component, but your mind needs to believe you are safe and capable in the water. Conquering the breathing barrier is the key that unlocks that mental door.
Breathing Easier with Swim Design Space – Join Us!
At Swim Design Space, we specialize in helping swimmers overcome hurdles exactly like this. Our philosophy is that anyone can learn to swim with the right approach – and that means tackling the mental barriers (like fear of not getting enough air) alongside the physical skills.
Our coaches in all our locations – Cheltenham, Gloucester, Blakeney, and Cardiff – know how critical breathing is and we integrate breathing practice into every level of our classes. In fact, if you visit our sessions at Dean Close School in Cheltenham or Everlast Gym Cheltenham, you’ll often see beginners in the first class simply standing with our instructors, practicing gentle bubbles and relaxed floatation. The same is true at our Gloucester locations (we hold lessons at Everlast Fitness Gloucester and Sir Thomas Rich’s School pool) and at our Etloe House Farm pool in Blakeney – no matter where you start, we begin with breathing fundamentals to establish comfort.
By the time you’re swimming laps in our advanced classes, you’ll probably hear your instructor reminding the group to “exhale, exhale, exhale!” as much as they remind you to kick or pull. We really do believe, as one swim school perfectly stated, that “swimming is all about breathing” and that a correct inhale-exhale pattern is the first fundamental skill to being safe and strong in the water.
If you or your child are struggling with swimming because breathing is scary or exhausting, we invite you to book a class with us and experience the difference a supportive, technique-focused environment can make. We run separate children’s and adult swimming lessons tailored to each age group’s needs. For kids, we make learning to breathe fun using games, songs, and sometimes props like our friendly Floatie Friends™ foam floats or colourful caps to encourage submerging and bubble-blowing in a non-threatening way.
For adults, we keep the atmosphere calm and reassuring, often utilising tools like the snorkels or fins we discussed, and progress at your pace. There’s no rush to swim Olympic laps; we celebrate the small wins, like when you first manage to exhale underwater without panic, or when you complete that first width of the pool breathing steadily. Those moments are huge!
Ready to Dive In?
Don’t let the breathing barrier hold you back from enjoying swimming. With the right techniques, a bit of practice, and maybe some helpful gear, you can transform swimming from a daunting workout into a refreshing, enjoyable experience. Remember, every expert swimmer once started right where you are – sputtering and flailing and thinking “how do people do this?” They persevered, got guidance, and learned to breathe.
You can too. If you’re in the Cheltenham, Gloucester, Blakeney, or Cardiff areas, come join the Swim Design Space family, we’ll literally teach you how to take a deep breath and relax in the water. Our small-group classes and friendly coaches are here to support you every step (or stroke) of the way. You can book a class at your nearest location and start your journey to confident swimming.
Take the plunge, once you conquer this mental barrier, a whole new world of swimming enjoyment will open up. Breathing might be the biggest challenge now, but soon it will become second nature. And that’s when you’ll truly get to savor the freedom and joy of gliding through the water, calm and unafraid. Happy swimming and happy breathing!