Breathe Early, Breathe Late
A contrast drill: swimmers deliberately breathe too late, then on time, so they can feel why an early, rotating breath keeps the stroke flowing.
- Stages
- Swimming – Stage 9
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Front Crawl Breathing, Stroke Timing
- Equipment
- None, Float
- Age
- 9–99 years
- Group size
- 2–16 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Allow rests at the wall between widths; this drill can feel breathless if swimmers rush.
What it develops
- Front crawl: rotation, early catch and bilateral breathing
How to run it
- Width 1: swim front crawl and breathe late – after the arm has recovered. Notice the pause.
- Width 2: breathe on time – start turning as the opposite arm enters and the breathing-side arm begins to pull.
- Width 3: swimmer chooses and the teacher or a partner guesses which version it was.
- Discuss: which felt smoother, and where was the breath taken?
Teaching cues
- Turn as your other hand enters.
- Breath finishes as your arm comes out.
- Face back in before your hand lands.
Make it easier
- Use the breathing side only with a float in the lead hand.
Make it harder
- Do the contrast while breathing every three strokes.
- Count strokes per width for each version.
Common faults
- Swimmers can't tell the difference at first.
- Over-rotating onto the back on the 'on time' breath.
Corrections
- 'Feel the pause on the late breath – that's what we're removing.'
- 'Just one goggle out.'
Assistant / L1 role
- On width 3, stand by the teacher and record each swimmer's guess correctly identified on a poolside board.