Fit but Out of Breath: You Can Run a 10k but Feel Like Dying After 100m of Swimming| The Triathlete Blueprint #136

Read time: 5min.

By Coach Yan Busset

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Before diving into the article, here are two ways I can help you train smarter:

1. If you’re in the Helsinki / Espoo area and want to join a coached training group, click here.

2. If you prefer a personalized online coaching plan with feedback and structure, click here.

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Quick version for busy triathletes

If you can run, ride, and feel fit but you’re out of breath after 100 metres of swimming, the problem is usually not your cardio.Most of the time it comes from not exhaling properly underwater, fighting the water instead of being streamlined, and swimming with poor body position. Once you focus on relaxed exhalation, shorter focused repeats, and a better horizontal position, you can already swim longer distances with much more ease.

Why this matters for triathletes

• You stop blaming your fitness when the real limiter is technique.

• You get a clear order of priorities: breathing → body position → distance.

• You avoid locking in bad habits by doing endless junk metres in the pool.

• You give yourself a real chance to come out of the water fresh at T1, not destroyed.

  
  

Let’s talk about it

You can run a 10k, maybe a marathon, do long rides, you feel that you have a solid level of fitness, you might want to do a triathlon, or maybe you have already done a triathlon. But in both cases, as soon as you go in the water and start to swim, you are rapidly out of breath.

That’s super frustrating, but don’t worry, you’re not alone. I’ve seen that so many times. It’s so common, swimming is often the main pain point for triathletes, and I’m gonna help you to address that.

And that will start with breathing. Many times, when people think they are out of breath, they actually have too much air, not too little. They keep on inhaling, but never focus on breathing out correctly. They don’t keep a steady stream of bubbles underwater, and if you keep on doing that, the feeling is the same as lack of air, but in fact, you have too much air.

So, once you shift the mindset and focus on exhaling, don’t worry about getting some air in. If you breathe out properly and for a long time, when you’re gonna turn the head to catch your breath, you just open the mouth and the air will come almost automatically, without having too much to think about it. And just that fix can already help you swim longer distances.

Second point is that often, people accumulate junk miles in the pool. But if you do that with bad technique, you’re gonna instead fix that bad technique in place, and it’s gonna be even harder to correct it later. So instead, you need to cut it into small chunks. Depending on the pool size, 25 metres or 50 at a time, and swim with a purpose in mind, and not useless long back and forth.

And now it’s a good moment in the season. Winter vacation is coming, and soon a new year with new good resolutions will arrive. It’s a good time to address your weaknesses and put more effort in your technique.

Chances are also that one of the things that keeps you away from being able to swim long distances with ease is that you might fight the water. Remember, if you fight the water, the water will always win. You need to shift the mindset and try to be as streamlined as possible, invisible to the water, instead of thinking that just your fitness and big muscles will solve everything.

So instead of boxing the water in the windmill style, you will need to shift your buoyancy centre to help you have a more natural horizontal position, instead of having your legs dragging behind, sinking behind.

There are different ways to do it. One is not to compromise with your stroke length. You want to reach as far as possible in the front before starting the catch. This way you put more body mass on the front. It will help to balance the mass of your legs and shift the buoyancy centre.

It’s okay at the beginning to use some help, like gear to achieve a good position artificially, like short fins or a pull buoy. But keep in mind it’s a temporary fix. It’s not solving things organically. It’s more like procrastination in disguise, and at some point you will need to address the issue.

So the goal of my coaching is to have my athletes not just surviving the swim. I want them to complete the swim with ease and be fresh at T1 for the rest of the race.

Sometimes people hit a plateau. They hit a plateau, they don’t know, they feel a bit stuck, they don’t know how to address it to get faster. And that’s what we are going to talk about next week. So remember to subscribe to this newsletter and you will be able to get the notice when I will post the next vlog.

And by the way, I just released a new YouTube video (check below), because some of you, once you shift from swimming pool to open water, lose a lot of time even with the wetsuit, and you don’t know why. So in that video I packed a lot of advice on how to get faster in open water, because at the end of the day triathlon happens in the sea, in lakes and rivers, and rarely in the pool.

I also invite you to check the rest of my YouTube channel. I try to put as much content there as possible to help you achieve your best potential.

FAQ: Fit but out of breath in the water

1. Why am I out of breath swimming when I’m fine running and cycling?

Because swimming uses a different breathing pattern and body position.

If you don’t exhale underwater and your body is not horizontal, you create stress and drag, and you feel out of breath very quickly even with good cardio.

2. How do I know if my problem is breathing or fitness?

If you can run or ride for a long time but are destroyed after 50–100 metres in the pool, it is almost always technique and breathing.

Start by working on long, relaxed exhalation and shorter, focused repeats.

3. How long should my swimming repeats be at the beginning?

Short. Most triathletes benefit from 25 m or 50 m repeats with good form, with small rests, instead of forcing 400 m with poor technique and high stress.

4. Are fins and pull buoy good or bad?

They are useful tools if:

• you use them to feel better position and focus on one technical point

• you also swim without them in the same session

They become a problem if you cannot swim without them or use them to avoid working on the real issues.

5. How long will it take before I feel a difference?

Many athletes feel a change quite quickly once they:

• exhale properly

• shorten the repeats

• stop fighting the water

The exact timeline depends on your starting point and consistency, but breathing and body position can improve in a few focused weeks.

6. Is it normal to feel anxious in the water?

Yes, especially if water is a foreign element for you.That’s why it’s important to:

• start with short, controlled distances

• build comfort and even fun in the water

• only then layer more technique and distance on top.

Check out my NEW Youtube VIDEO!

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Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. If you are in the Helsinki/ Espoo area and looking for the best training group check here

2. If you are looking for an online coaching service check here.

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