This workout is about becoming more deliberate with your breathing in freestyle. Every breath has the potential to interrupt your body position, rhythm and speed, so the aim is to practise controlling when you breathe rather than allowing your breathing pattern to dictate your stroke.
Keep exhaling steadily into the water between breaths. The goal is not to hold your breath unnecessarily, but to become comfortable swimming for longer periods between well-timed breaths while maintaining relaxed, efficient technique.
Keep all this in mind while you are working through this set!
Take the warm up slowly to get your muscles moving. For the catch up you can either do one or three strokes per breath. If you do one, spend time on your glide and kick rather than rushing through.
So breath every 3 for the first 50m, then every 5 for the next 50m and so on.
Use the increasing breathing pattern to practise staying relaxed and maintaining your stroke as the time between breaths increases.
Exhale steadily underwater rather than holding your breath and then trying to breathe out and in when you turn your head. Keep the breath itself quick and controlled, with minimal head movement.
As the number of strokes between breaths increases, resist the temptation to rush your stroke. Maintain the same long, controlled freestyle throughout.
If you cannot complete the prescribed breathing pattern comfortably, take an additional breath rather than straining or compromising your technique.
4 × 100 – Breakouts
4 kicks off each wall before your first breath
A strong push-off is one of the fastest parts of your length, so avoid giving that speed away by breathing immediately after you surface.
Push off in a tight streamline, complete four controlled kicks and transition smoothly into your first strokes. Keep your head still and your body moving forwards before taking your first breath.
Think: push – streamline – kick – breakout – breathe.
The aim is to make delaying that first breath feel controlled and repeatable on every wall.
4 × 100 – Turns
Last breath at the flags
Now focus on the other side of the turn. Taking a breath immediately before the wall can interrupt your rhythm and reduce the speed you carry into the turn.
Use the flags as your cue for your final breath, then keep your head still and accelerate into the wall. Turn quickly, push off strongly and carry that momentum into your breakout.
Don't glide into the wall because you're running out of air. The final strokes should be positive and committed.
Think: breathe – accelerate – turn.
4 × 100 – Race Pace
Put it all together
Bring the skills from the previous two blocks together at race pace.
Approach each wall with speed, take your final breath early enough that you can keep your head still into the turn, execute a fast turn and maintain your streamline and kicks before taking your first breath on the next length.
The challenge is to maintain these habits as the effort increases and fatigue starts to build. Good breathing discipline should support your race rhythm rather than disrupt it.
6 × 25 – Sprint
All out – minimum breaths
These are about pure speed. Take as few breaths as you can comfortably and safely while maintaining maximum effort and good technique.
If you do breathe, make it quick and controlled rather than lifting or turning the head excessively. Don't sacrifice stroke quality simply to complete the length without breathing.
The priority is speed first, minimum disruption from breathing second.
Time to relax and swim down! Scull can be on your back if preferred.
Key Takeaway
Reducing unnecessary breaths isn't about proving how long you can hold your breath. It's about learning to choose the best moments to breathe.
Practise keeping your head still when speed matters most — approaching the wall, through the turn, during the breakout and when sprinting — while maintaining a relaxed exhale underwater.
Over time, better breath control can help you preserve your rhythm, body position and momentum, particularly when swimming at race pace.
Check out our other swim sets for more practise inspo.
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