I've forgotten how to swim

For triathlon specific swimming bi-lateral breathing is ideal since you are always swimming with a crowd. look it up on you tube; I had the same problem as you but as you get more comfortable it will happen less. I recently had a sinus infection and it was because of that. Use nasal irrigation after aka neti pot too. chlorine will mess up the mucousal membranes of the sinus. finally and most annoying use a tyr nose clip or one of the metal rubber band ones. I hope this helps swimming is the most important part of the art of the triathlon---hardest and requires the most technique and experience is killer.

I would really try and tackle swimming and prioritize just like anything you would do.

Hope this helps,
Justin

This happened to me to. I used to be a fish when I was younger and took a ton of swimming lessons but never decided to join a team. About 2 years ago I thought I'd try laps swimming and was playing around in a pool on vacation. I could barely go a couple of strokes without screwing up my breathing and feeling like I was going to choke.

I know there are a lot more seasoned athletes here who might have better advice but I'd suggest taking some lessons. I took a stroke improvement course and it all came back to me really really quickly. I just needed some drills to get some technique back. And having someone watching your form is great, there's a lot of subtle things you might not be able to tell you're doing or not doing that a coach/teacher will see.

Also, are you making sure to breathe out of your nose when you put your head back into the water? If you breathe it out slowly and consistently when your face is in the water that should help remedy the problem. It also helps with flip turns to make sure to blow out of your nose when flipping, learned that the hard way, haha. Hope that helps some.

My first sprint in next weekend and swimming was the discipline I had the least background in.  I've never been able to swim without water going up my noise and always ended up coughing and spluttering.  Since I had no idea how long it would take to learn how to do that properly and I knew it was going to take time to learn how to swim properly I've just been using the nose plugs. 

I've read some forums that say they're a crutch and a no-no but it's what I need right now to be able to do this race.  Once I stopped having to worry about the water in my nose I made huge strides in my swimming and now I feel strong and smooth in the water.  I'll work on losing the nose plugs over the winter.

Thank you all for your replies!  

I think lessons would be a great idea!

So, here's where the "I haven't swum in years" part becomes really evident:  When my head is underwater, I'm blowing out my mouth.  I don't use my nose at all.  I guess I forgot that I need to be exhaling through my nose.  That's going to take some practice.  I've been wanting to learn how to flip turn, so it sounds like I have to teach myself to use my nose.  I'm not registered for any triathlons yet, so I have time to learn, but I'll keep the noseclip in mind.  

Thank you!!!

Angel