Losing the nose clip

I am by no means a good swimmer, but it helps me to keep water out of my nose to keep my chin and head down more when I turn to breath.  I found my self lifting my head to much to breath which in turn would force water up my nose when I would put my face back in the water.  I try to imagine myself trying to look over my shoulder when I turn to breath, this way I do not lift as much.

The trick is to breathe out through the nose very gently, just enough to stop the water getting in.  Try to make your outbreaths a long gentle stream of bubbles through mouth and nose together, throughout the stroke, rather than one explosive exhalation.

I started a thread a few months ago about this and have had 100% success in dropping the clips thanks to these guys.  Hope this helps and good luck!

- Lora

http://beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=145540&start=1

Lora - thank for the thread.  My wife is just starting and is having trouble keeping water out of her nose (while breathing in, not while underwater)  I am going to have her read this thread.

I don't have a problem doing something with my throat so I can breath through my mouth and not my nose.  The only think that I can think of is that she has trouble doing this?  Does anyone that has had trouble with this figured out why it was a problem? 

Interesting discussion. I use a nose clip only when I swim in a pool. I seemed to have a reaction to the chlorine and would have clogged sinuses for a day after swimming. The nose clip eliminated this problem. I have no problem when swimming in open water. I also use ear plugs in the pool only.

I didn't used to have this problem at all, but either they are using more chlorine now or I've developed some kind of sensitivity to it.

what's wrong with using the clip? Does it slow you down? I see it as being no different the using goggles.

When I want to lose something I give it to one of my kids and say, "Hold this for just a minute, it's very important."

It doesn't slow you down, but it can make it more difficult to fully exhale all of your air under water. If you watch the underwater tapes of competitive swimmers, you see that the air is coming out from both their nose and mouth, emptying their lungs. When turning to the side to breath, there is then a "vacuum", and air goes in, water stays out. This means more oxygen is going in, which means that all systems are functioning on all cylinders, and helps avoid exhaustion. Some people who don't exhale through the nose (or don't fully exhale) have this extra "stutter" breath when they breathe to the side...they need to slightly exhale before they can inhale. This can be one of the causes for water up the nose. Like someone else mentioned, keeping your chin tucked (but not too far) helps as well. A chin tilted too far out or too far in invites water in, and also makes it hard to breathe effectively (plus it is probably messing with your body position).

Some people have sinus issues which necessitate the wearing of a noseclip, and it isn't necessarily that big of a deal for triathletes compared to competitive swimmers. I'd say give it a try, see if you feel any benefit from going without. But if it is an exercise in frustration and distraction, wear it and just adjust your stroke and breathing pattern accordingly.

One less thing to worry about, plus there's the cool factor.

That's kind of funny. My first tri this year I had someone comment on my nose clip hanging around my neck before the race. Stating that he did not think racers used those. I just said 'this one does". Out of over 150 racers that morning I (with my nose clip) came out of the water 18th.
For me I get a cleaner and deeper breath with the clip then without it. When I don't use it or it gets knocked off in the race I spend way to much energy trying not to get water up my nose.

I accidentally had mine come off in the pool and to my surprise I found I could breath much easier without it.