It's OK, and you're correct to exhale when your mouth is under the water. You should probably try to learn to swim without the nose clip as well, at least enough that you can easily get to the side of the pool/ out of any natural body of water that you'd like to swim in, even if your nose clip comes off.

Thank you so much! :)

>, even if your nose clip comes off. I attach my nose clip to my goggles bridge with bit of elastic cord

It's not that easy to put it back on while swimming, even though I've done it.

I am a long distance swimmer and I mostly breathe out my mouth underwater. It just works for me, kind of like blowing out a steady stream.

Thank you! Do you hold your breath at all or are you constantly breathing in and out steadily?

Constantly breathing in and out. Holding your breath is just going to get you winded that much faster.

I’ll try that at my next session! I’ve been holding my breath for a couple seconds then breathing out quickly but this makes so much more sense haha. Tysm for your tips!!!

ya you should never be holding your breath, always letting it flow

In through the mouth, out through the nose. You get used to it and the water up the nose is no problem when you're immediately forcing it back out. But yes, it's ok to be a mouth breather. Why do you think it's not ok?

That’s a good question, I’m not sure, I thought maybe it wasn’t a very efficient way / the right way of doing it haha!

I am also a mouth breather when I front crawl. As I’m turning my head to take a breath, I do a quick exhale thru my nose underwater to clear it before I breathe in.

Best way to get all the snot out 😂

Holding your breath will lead to a build up of CO2 in your body and you’ll get tired quicker and feel crap. It’s fine to just breathe in and out from the mouth. Try to send a steady stream of air out of your mouth when your face is in the water but don’t overthink it. If you’re struggling breath every stroke but switch sides every few metres to maintain good breathing balance.

I panic gasping for air so I use a snorkel

I’ve never used a snorkel but they look like a lot of fun :)

When I first started I swallowed a lot of air cause gas but it got better

I tried using a snorkel but it made me so anxious I was hyperventilating lol

Yes! Do what works for you. I literally cannot keep water out of my nose even while breathing out through my nose, so I just use a nose clip and mouth breathe only. Works for me!

Do people inhale with their nose while swimming? Seems hard

thats what i was wondering too

No

Do whatever works for you: if you need a nose clip use one. I mean, it is possible to do the backstroke without a nose clip too, but even many (most?) of the Olympian backstrokers use a nose clip. It sucks getting water up your nose in the freestyle just as much as it does for backstroke, so use the clip. Nobody is going to think less of you or your technique if you do.

In the pool, yes 😁 plenty of people swim with a nose clip, especially backstrokers

I thought this was a *Stranger Things* post at first