1.6. Why Does Water Flow into My Nose when I Breathe?

Does water get into your nose when breathing?
A lot of beginner swimmers struggle with this, and it usually happens at the water surface – that’s where water most often gets into the nose.
If we could close our noses with some kind of flaps, we’d just shut it off when turning our face, but unfortunately, that’s not possible.
So here’s a surprise for some:
If your face is above the water, water doesn’t go in.
If your face is pointing down to the bottom, it also doesn’t go in.
So when does it happen?
Have you ever tried to notice that moment?
It’s at the surface – when your face is moving from above down or from below up, you’re passing through the surface, and at that moment, if you’re not exhaling through your nose, water flows in.
So what can you do about it?
To stop that from happening, you need to exhale through your nose right when you’re crossing the surface – blow through it, clear it with your nose.
Let’s take a closer look.
Because when bubbles are coming out, nothing can come in.
And if you’re not sure whether it’s happening on the way down or up, practice exhaling through the surface in both directions – down and up.
Let’s try it together now, 5 times in crawl rhythm.
If this doesn’t help and you’re getting water in your nose at a totally different moment than when crossing the surface, you’re likely having an involuntary nasal inhale somewhere during the crawl – maybe a reflexive suck-in, and you’re not even aware of it. But it’s happening somewhere.
Try to identify when it happens and consciously control your underwater exhale so that it’s uninterrupted.
You mustn’t break your exhale underwater into chunks.
Well – technically, you can, I do it too – but only after you eliminate this involuntary inhale.
It can also happen above water, when you lift your face and a lot of water runs down it, and you reflexively inhale through your nose. That must not happen – otherwise it’ll burn all the way to your brain.
Our nose is simply off-limits for breathing in while swimming. As we know: above water we always breathe in only through the mouth. So once again – unless you’re crossing the surface or reflexively sucking water into your nose, water cannot get in. Find what your problem is – and stop it.

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