You finish a 50-meter breaststroke lap gasping while the swimmer next to you barely looks winded. The difference often comes down to breathing.
Breaststroke gives you air for only about a third of each stroke cycle. That narrow window punishes poor technique faster than any other stroke. Our coaches at Rocket Swim Club, former national team athletes, see this at every level. Below is the technique behind proper breathing, the timing that prevents fatigue, and drills you can try today.
Swimming Breaststroke Breathing Technique
Why Breaststroke Makes You Tired (What’s Actually Happening)
That desperate feeling of running out of air during breaststroke isn’t caused by low oxygen. It’s caused by carbon dioxide. While your face is submerged, CO2 accumulates in your lungs. Your brain reads rising CO2 levels as a suffocation signal and triggers panic well before your oxygen is actually depleted.
In freestyle, you can turn your head every two or three strokes and grab air with minimal disruption. Swimming Breaststroke doesn’t give you that luxury. You get roughly one-third of each stroke cycle to breathe. If your exhale is incomplete or your timing is off by even half a second, CO2 stacks up and you feel like you’re drowning in chest-deep water.
Understanding this changes your approach. The goal isn’t to inhale harder. It’s to exhale fully so there’s room for fresh air when you surface.
How to Inhale and Exhale During Breaststroke
The mechanics are simple. As your arms sweep inward and your upper body rises, inhale quickly through your mouth. Your mouth is a bigger opening than your nostrils and lets you take in more air in less time.
As your head drops and your arms extend forward, exhale steadily through both your mouth and nose. Continue exhaling through the entire glide phase. By the time your arms begin the next pull, your lungs should be nearly empty.
The single biggest mistake swimmers make in breaststroke is holding their breath during the glide. If you don’t empty your lungs underwater, there’s no space for fresh air when your mouth clears the surface. You end up sipping air on top of stale air, and that CO2 feeling intensifies with every stroke.
Head Position: How High Is Too High?
Lifting your head too far out of the water is the fastest way to burn extra energy. When your head goes up, your hips go down. Sinking hips create drag, and drag turns a 50-meter swim into a 50-meter fight.
The cue is simple: lift just enough that your mouth and shoulders clear the water. Your eyes should stay angled slightly downward toward the pool bottom, not looking forward at the wall. Think of your head and shoulders as one.
For intermediate swimmers, the wave-style breaststroke adds a gentle undulation through the torso. This motion lets you breathe with minimal disruption to your body line. You don’t need to master it right away, but keep it in mind as your stroke develops.
Breaststroke Breathing Timing
The Pull-Breathe-Kick-Glide Sequence
Breaststroke follows a four-phase rhythm:
- Phase 1: Arms pull outward and sweep inward.
- Phase 2: Head lifts, quick inhale through your mouth.
- Phase 3: Arms shoot forward while legs kick outward and snap together.
- Phase 4: Body extends into a streamlined glide as you exhale steadily.
The breath happens during the arm pull, not after it. Many swimmers try to breathe too late, after their arms have already started forward. This breaks the chain and forces the head to stay up longer, which sinks the hips.
A coaching cue that works well: “Pull your head up, kick your head down.” Match your inhale to the pull, your exhale to the kick and glide.
How Stroke Tempo Affects Your Breathing
Rushing your stroke rate is one of the least obvious causes of breathing fatigue. When you speed up your turnover, you shorten the glide. A shorter glide means less time to exhale. Less exhale time means CO2 accumulates faster, and you gas out well before your muscles give up.
The fix: slow your tempo, especially in the first 50 to 100 meters. Extend your glide by even half a second and pay attention to how much easier breathing becomes. This connects directly to the CO2 problem covered above. A controlled tempo keeps the exhale window open.
Breaststroke Breathing Drills
Beginner Drills
Supported Breaststroke with a Pool Noodle
Place a pool noodle under your armpits for buoyancy. Swim breaststroke in slow motion, focusing entirely on the exhale-during-glide, inhale-during-pull rhythm. The noodle removes the worry of sinking so you can concentrate on breath timing without distraction.
Standing Breathing Practice (Shallow End)
Stand in chest-deep water. Dip your face in, exhale steadily through your nose and mouth for three to four seconds, then lift your chin and inhale quickly through your mouth. Repeat 10 to 15 times. This builds the exhale habit before you add any swimming movement.
Intermediate Drills
3 Kicks, 1 Pull
Push off in streamline. Take three breaststroke kicks underwater, then do one full pull-and-breathe before returning to streamline. This drill forces you to stay calm without air and time the breath precisely on the pull.
2 Kicks, 1 Pull
Same concept with less rest between breaths. Tighter timing. Focus on keeping your body near the surface and not diving too deep after the breath.
Upside-Down Breaststroke (Underwater, on Your Back)
Push off underwater on your back and swim breaststroke fully submerged. This builds body awareness and stroke coordination without the breathing variable. After a few 25s, return to regular breaststroke. Breathing will feel noticeably easier by contrast.
| Struggling to feel the timing?
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How to Tell If Your Breathing Needs Work (Self-Check)
Use this checklist after your next breaststroke set. If two or more apply, your breathing technique needs attention:
- You’re gasping at the surface instead of taking a controlled inhale. (Fix: exhale fully during the glide. See the Inhale and Exhale section.)
- Your hips feel like they’re sinking every time you breathe. (Fix: lower your head lift. See the Head Position section.)
- You feel more tired after 50 meters of breaststroke than 50 meters of freestyle. (Fix: check your exhale timing and tempo. See the Tempo section.)
- You’re holding your breath during the glide phase instead of exhaling. (Fix: practice the Standing Breathing drill above.)
Putting It All Together: A Practice Set
Here’s a set you can use as a new swimmer. Total distance is about 700 meters. Adjust rest intervals based on your fitness.
Warm-Up
- 200m easy freestyle, focus on relaxed breathing
Drill Block
- 4 x 25m Supported Breaststroke with noodle (15 sec rest)
- 4 x 25m 3 Kicks, 1 Pull (15 sec rest)
Main Set
- 4 x 50m Breaststroke at moderate pace (20 sec rest). Focus on complete exhale during each glide.
Cool-Down
- 100m easy backstroke or freestyle
Pay attention to whether you’re still holding your breath during the glide on the last 50. If so, slow your tempo and extend the exhale.
| Want a coach to watch your stroke in person?
Rocket Swim Club runs programs for beginners, competitive swimmers, and adults across the Greater Toronto Area. Our coaches use Sportecos performance tracking to measure your progress. To learn more please reach out. |
Conclusion
Three things fix most breaststroke breathing problems: exhale fully underwater, match your breath to the pull-breathe-kick-glide rhythm, and slow your tempo when you feel winded.
Breathing in breaststroke is a skill, not a talent. Most swimmers notice improvement within a few focused sessions of drill work. Take the self-check list and the practice set to the pool, and give your technique honest attention for two or three workouts.
| Ready to work with a coach?
Rocket Swim Club’s programs are open to swimmers of all ages and levels in Toronto and the GTA. Register for a tryout or book a private swimming lesson at rocketswim. |