Sport Today

by **Yossarian Yggy Ki** » Sat, 19 Sep 1992 09:36:50

Hi folks,
(This may be on the FAQ, but our site doesn't store enough
articles for me to get back to it. Is there an ftp site?)
After a year of swimming exclusively ***stroke, and finally
becoming close to adequate at that, I decided it was time to learn
front crawl (I guess I'm somewhat of an anomaly in that I never
learned it as kid.) Anyways, I've been reading some articles by Chip
Zempel and skimming through Counsilman's book--both have been a great
help for general technique, but they don't explain what to do about
having to burp every couple of lengths!
Maybe this sounds silly, but it's really aggravating--I get
this gradual buildup of air in my stomach that, while not painful,
makes it harder and harder to keep swimming until it gets to the point
that I have to hang on the side of the pool and let the air bubble out
in a sort of noiseless burp. No coughing and ***, but a pain
nevertheless.
I presume that the problem is to do with my breathing
technique (duh) but haven't been able to isolate it. I may be
breathing a little on the late side--could this cause it? I've
switched from breathing every two strokes (left arm + right arm = 2)
to every three or four, which helps, but maybe just because fewer
breaths means less opportunity to accumulate excess air. Am I
breathing improperly? Sucking air in too hard? I don't think I
swallow at all while swimming (not intentionally, anyway :-).
Any hints or tips would be very much appreciated--it's
aggravating having to stop after 50m when I know that aerobically and
strength-wise I should be ablt to go much further (at least 75 :-).
(And any other little secrets you'd like to share with a
novice swimmer would also be gratefully accepted.)

many thanks,
Yggy

P.S. Does anyone know that the world record times for 50m and 800m
are? I don't care what stroke, just the fastest that has been swum. A
personal goal is to be able to swim in twice the world record
time--I've done a couple of short-distance triathlons, and no one in
the world can run or bike twice as fast as me (I'm not real fast at
either, but someone would have to be really booting to run a 21 minute
10k!), but I can't say the same about swimming.
--
Yggy King | "Outside of a dog, a book is a person's best friend;
UBC Comp Sci | inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
B.C., Canada | --Groucho Marx

by **r..** » Mon, 21 Sep 1992 07:09:58

Quote:

> Hi folks,
> (This may be on the FAQ, but our site doesn't store enough
> articles for me to get back to it. Is there an ftp site?)
> After a year of swimming exclusively ***stroke, and finally
> becoming close to adequate at that, I decided it was time to learn
> front crawl (I guess I'm somewhat of an anomaly in that I never
> learned it as kid.) Anyways, I've been reading some articles by Chip
> Zempel and skimming through Counsilman's book--both have been a great
> help for general technique, but they don't explain what to do about
> having to burp every couple of lengths!
> Maybe this sounds silly, but it's really aggravating--I get
> this gradual buildup of air in my stomach that, while not painful,
> makes it harder and harder to keep swimming until it gets to the point
> that I have to hang on the side of the pool and let the air bubble out
> in a sort of noiseless burp. No coughing and ***, but a pain
> nevertheless.
> I presume that the problem is to do with my breathing
> technique (duh) but haven't been able to isolate it. I may be
> breathing a little on the late side--could this cause it? I've
> switched from breathing every two strokes (left arm + right arm = 2)
> to every three or four, which helps, but maybe just because fewer
> breaths means less opportunity to accumulate excess air. Am I
> breathing improperly? Sucking air in too hard? I don't think I
> swallow at all while swimming (not intentionally, anyway :-).
> Any hints or tips would be very much appreciated--it's
> aggravating having to stop after 50m when I know that aerobically and
> strength-wise I should be ablt to go much further (at least 75 :-).
> (And any other little secrets you'd like to share with a
> novice swimmer would also be gratefully accepted.)

> many thanks,
> Yggy

> P.S. Does anyone know that the world record times for 50m and 800m
> are? I don't care what stroke, just the fastest that has been swum. A
> personal goal is to be able to swim in twice the world record
> time--I've done a couple of short-distance triathlons, and no one in
> the world can run or bike twice as fast as me (I'm not real fast at
> either, but someone would have to be really booting to run a 21 minute
> 10k!), but I can't say the same about swimming.
> --
> Yggy King | "Outside of a dog, a book is a person's best friend;
> UBC Comp Sci | inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
> B.C., Canada | --Groucho Marx

Well hmm interesting question.
The more you breathe the more air you take into your system, but it
should go to the lungs, not the stomach!
Anyway, yeah. Start breathing at a 3-4 stroke interval. That will
lessen any air that gets into your system, and it will not make you burp.
Also, exhale underwater through your nose and mouth. That gets rid of
any CO2 you are making within your system. But I do know the feeling of having
to burp real bad, especially in a sprint set like 10 x 100 on the 1:10.
BUT who says you can't burp underwater!
John

by **Lee Casu** » Thu, 24 Sep 1992 07:17:30

Quote:

> Hi folks,
> (This may be on the FAQ, but our site doesn't store enough
> articles for me to get back to it. Is there an ftp site?)
> After a year of swimming exclusively ***stroke, and finally
> becoming close to adequate at that, I decided it was time to learn
> front crawl (I guess I'm somewhat of an anomaly in that I never
> learned it as kid.) Anyways, I've been reading some articles by Chip
> Zempel and skimming through Counsilman's book--both have been a great
> help for general technique, but they don't explain what to do about
> having to burp every couple of lengths!

The only rule of thumb here is that you never want to hurl in
your own lane. Swimming through that gunk will just slow you down
and if at all possible, you want to slow down the other guy.
(Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

Quote:

> Maybe this sounds silly, but it's really aggravating--I get
> this gradual buildup of air in my stomach that, while not painful,
> makes it harder and harder to keep swimming until it gets to the point
> that I have to hang on the side of the pool and let the air bubble out
> in a sort of noiseless burp. No coughing and ***, but a pain
> nevertheless.
> I presume that the problem is to do with my breathing
> technique (duh) but haven't been able to isolate it. I may be
> breathing a little on the late side--could this cause it? I've
> switched from breathing every two strokes (left arm + right arm = 2)
> to every three or four, which helps, but maybe just because fewer
> breaths means less opportunity to accumulate excess air. Am I
> breathing improperly? Sucking air in too hard? I don't think I
> swallow at all while swimming (not intentionally, anyway :-).

It's hard to tell what you're really doing from a verbal description.
It's obvious that you're swallowing too much air, but the reason
could be anything from arm recovery to when you're taking a breath.
I suggest you find a coach or another swimmer to watch your stroke to
help locate and resolve the problem.

l\

by **Harry Y** » Thu, 24 Sep 1992 16:05:40

Quote:

> Maybe this sounds silly, but it's really aggravating--I get
>this gradual buildup of air in my stomach that, while not painful,
>makes it harder and harder to keep swimming until it gets to the point
>that I have to hang on the side of the pool and let the air bubble out
>in a sort of noiseless burp. No coughing and ***, but a pain
>nevertheless.

I had that problem for nearly 1/2 a year when I was taking beginer
swimming class. I believe that problem is causes by the small amount of
water you drink while you breath. You are supposed to breath into your
lung, but instead you swallow air with the water. It also helps to breath
out and suck in air hard.
If you get water in your mouth, don't breath in, get rid of the
water and breath at the next troke.

Am I still just a beginner or would you mind if I call myself an
intermedia freestyler? :->

Good luck,
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
| Harry Xu (KB2LHA) <> Happy running and swimming. |

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by **Gemma McLuck** » Thu, 24 Sep 1992 23:02:51

Quote:

King) writes:
>> Maybe this sounds silly, but it's really aggravating--I get
>>this gradual buildup of air in my stomach

Could it be that you're not exhaling enough?

by **Eric Nedervo** » Fri, 25 Sep 1992 06:17:34

I burp too and I swam competitively all through high school and my first
year at Wash. St. As someone else suggested, perhaps you aren't exhaling
enough. That's the case with me. I solve it by continuously (but lightly)
exhaling throughout the entire stroke (except when I was inhaling, of
course). Keeping my lungs busy doing either one or the other keeps me
from swallowing the air and actually evens out the cadence of my breathing.

Besides, it keeps me from retasting dinner in the pool.

--Eric

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Freestyle breathing (and burping)

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