A very popular question about swimming is , should you learn to breath out of alternate sides?
I have always breathed out of my right side, I guess that is just the way I feel most comfortable.  Breathing on the opposite side seems very awkward and usually made my feet start to fall.

You should always incorporate the use of bilateral breathing, if you’re not already. It will balance out your stroke and create symetry in back muscle development. The issue when breathing only to one side is that it can make your stroke unbalanced or lopsided. In a solid 1-hour workout, you may roll 1,000 times to your favored side. Without close monitoring your stroke can become permanently off balance very quickly.

Additionally, during a race, you never know what is going to happen in the water.  Waves, competitors or other variables may FORCE you to use the other side.  Spending a little time practicing will greatly improve your confidence in the water.

A few tips on how to practice bilateral breathing:

- Breathe to your right side on one length and to your left on the next. That way you get the oxygen you need but still develop a symmetrical stroke.
- Breathe to your weaker side on warm-ups, warmdowns, and slow swimming sets.
- Experiment with 3 left, 3 right or 4 left, 4 right until you find a comfortable pattern

Set a goal with each swim workout to try to breath equally out of each side.  Most of all, enjoy your workout and don’t get too stressed over being perect.