What it is
Breathing to the side in Front Crawl or Freestyle, practiced repeatedly to develop good habits and avoid sloppy or tilted breathing. The progression builds an efficient side breath that minimizes disruption to body line and forward momentum.
Essentials
- The head aims down when not breathing; the face returns fully into the water after each breath.
- The head and the same-side hip turn together toward the surface. The head does not turn alone.
- Stop the turn when roughly 2/3 of the face is over the water line.
- After the breath, return the face down into the water with a twist of the head and hip.
- The breath is finished by the time the recovering arm reaches the face.
- Body stays in line and the face remains touching the water throughout the breath.
Progression
- Practice turning the head; turn the head and turn the hips with it.
- Practice putting the face in the water, then turning the head to the side so half the face exits the water.
- Standing breaths to the side: face in water, turn and breathe to the side with a ½ step back, keeping ear, eye, and lip touching the water.
- Sneak in a single breath during a short swim: 3×SL + 5 FR + 1 breath on stroke #2, 3, or 4.
- Repeat extensively.
- Long-distance swims with support (kickboards, etc.).
- Many short-distance drills: Position 1, Position 11 + arm, etc.
- Position 1 with a breath: SL + Position 1 + side breath + look down.
- Side kicking with a breath: SL + lay on side + breath to sky + look down.
What goes wrong
- Head bending or tilted breathing: correct by aiming for body in line and face still touching the water.
- Over-rotation: the turn stops at roughly 2/3 of the face over the water line, not a full 90° turn.
- Lifting the head to breathe: the head turns with the hip; it does not rise independently.
- Sloppy form from swimming too far: keep distances short (3–5 strokes, ~10 yards max) so the swimmer maintains good technique.
- Fear and thrashing: remove by limiting distance and number of breaths; a SL + 3 arm strokes + 1 side breath is better than a struggling 25.
How you know it worked
The swimmer can do front crawl with side breathing for 8 meters while keeping the head down. The body stays in line, the face remains touching the water, and the breath is complete before the recovering arm reaches the face.
How you teach it
The primary focus for new Front Crawl breathing learners is body rotation connected to the arms, hips, and face—not the breath itself. Create good breathing habits before asking learners to swim longer distances. Keep distances short (3–5 strokes, about 10 yards max) and limit the number of breaths; this removes fear and struggle, and prevents the swimmer from compensating with head-lifting or sloppy body lines that become ingrained habits. A SL + 3 arm strokes + 1 side breath is a better teaching moment than a struggling 25.
Sneak a single breath into a short swim (e.g., 3×SL + 5 FR, breath on stroke #2, 3, or 4) and repeat that step extensively before adding distance. Use support tools like kickboards for longer swims so the swimmer can focus on rotation without fighting buoyancy. The "breath to sky" in side kicking exaggerates the head turn deliberately; it is a drill, not the target position in freestyle.
The cue "head turns with the hip" can be misread as a head-only movement if the swimmer is still lifting the head. Watch that the same-side hip actually rises to the surface as the head turns, and that the face rotates back underwater as the recovering arm crosses the head and returns to Position 11. If the swimmer is still thrashing or lifting, go back to standing breaths or Position 1 drills before adding arm strokes. When feedback is lacking, swimmers get sloppy and do things wrong—give specific, progressive feedback that references the swimmer's changes and previous cues as often as possible, even with multiple swimmers in the water at once.