Swimming with a nose clip

I think a nose clip would be fine, and lots of people use them. I do not becuase I breath out of my nose and mouth so it hinders my natural breathing. But if you can use one there is probably the advantage of npt taking in as much chlorine I would think. Less sneezing afterwards (which is what I do -- sneeze).

I was a swim instructor and the very first thing we teach students (from first timers to people who swim everyday) is the blow out their noses when the swim. I would take as much time as you need to learn this skill. I find that what helps more experieced swimmers out is the humming drill.

1.Start by bobbing up and down in the water while humming your favorite song. Go under for 3 seconds then come up just long enough to take take a breath, make sure that you have 'hummed' out all the air in your lungs before you come up for air.


2. After you master that drill, use the same 'humming technique' while swimming freestyle. Breathe every 4 strokes at first (always taking a breath on your right or left side). Again, make sure you have 'hummed' out all your air before taking a breath.

3. Once you have mastered breathing every 4, you should try the drill at your regular cadence.

The breathing technique is so difficult (in mouth out nose) because it is opposite from how we breath on land (in nose out mouth). The key to not getting water in your nose is getting rid of all the 02 in your lungs BEFORE you come up for breath.

I hope this helps. I think the danger in using a nose plug is you become to dependent on it. If you ever decided to learn to breath correctly, your dependency on the nose plug will make it much more difficult (breathing in and out the mouth). Also, if you are so lucky as to lose your nose plug in competition, I'm sure that will take a toll on the psychological part of your swim race.

Good luck

Thanks for the advice. I will try humming in the swimming pool next time I am in there

I use a nose clip because my sinuses are very sensitive to chlorine. This is a recent problem for me that started about a year ago. In open water competition such as ocean or lake, I don't need a nose clip because there is no chlorine. I exhale through my nose while in open water. I find that even with the nose clip that some chlorine will seep into my sinuses during a long swim session so I use a saline nasal spray afterwards and still will suffer some minor congestion during the night following swimming. I use the wire nose clip with the soft plastic on the ends. It stays on pretty good and you can always bend it smaller. While between intervals I will remove it occasionally to breathe through my nose and also to reseat it. It occurred to me that a string attached to it could save it from being lost but I’ve always been able to find it right below me in my lane in the couple of times it has come off. Since I do exhale through my nose normally I have not found that to be an effective way to keep my sinuses clear. Without the nose clip my sinus problems were so severe that I nearly had sinus surgery.

JT

Edited by JTee 2004-02-18 1:55 PM

I find that a dab of Vaseline inside each nostril cuts down on the irritation usually caused in over-chlorinated pools. I used to use Mentholatum in my nose until I accidentally rubbed my eyes after. It was a *very* exhilirating experience. None that I would like to repeat.

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