Breathe-up question

[MKDVR]

I've noticed most people do their breathe-up head down with the snorkel. I seem to be the only one that does the breathe-up with my head out of the water. Think I need to correct this. Question is is it normal to inhale a bit of water during the breathe-up? My routine concludes with 4 quick sucks just before submerging. I've never been comfortable doing this with a snorkel because I always get some residual water, a wave, or someones wake at the worst moment. This really throws me off and have to start over every time.

[MKDVR]

Considering the lack of input I'll assume that it is a normal thing that I just have to get used to.

[cdavis]

Hi MKDVR,

A more or less occasional bit of water in the snorkel is pretty much unavoidable. There are probably many ways to deal with it, but one is to position the tongue so that it intercepts and slows down any inhaled water. I place the tip of my tongue against the roof of the mouth, near but not touching the teeth. Water coming in the snorkel hits the bottom of the tongue, slows down,and falls out of the stream of air. That gives me time to do whatever is needed. It becomes totally automatic and can deal with quite a bit of water. This mechanism does introduce some resistance, but not much.

If you are already doing this and still having a problem, try a purge snorkel or other design that limits water ingress. I've used purge snorkels when swimming laps fast, when my breathing rate is too fast for the tongue technique to work. Some of them do pretty well.

Connor

[MKDVR]

My last inhales are forceful enough that it sucks in any residual water causing me to gag. This may seem a little silly but in my previous 9 years of scuba I never used a snorkel and in freediving have only used one for the last 3 months.

Thanks for the tip.

[cdavis]

Sounds like you are breathing too fast and hard. Try slowing down. Your last breaths should be very relaxed. If the tongue technique doesn't work, you are almost certainly breathing too fast.

Connor

[MKDVR]

Originally Posted by cdavis

Sounds like you are breathing too fast and hard. Try slowing down. Your last breaths should be very relaxed. If the tongue technique doesn't work, you are almost certainly breathing too fast.

Connor

My initial breaths are slow and deep. I just finish off with a short pack. My overall technique needs a lot of work I know but have done alright so far. If they should ever re-open my pool I could work on it some more.

[chasintail]

Almost all freedivers tend to get water into our snorkels on the final breaths before diving.The cause is we tend to tip our heads down without meaning too right before we dive.
Pay close attention to keeping your head level and see if it helps.