1.9. Where should I Look when Breathing – behind Me, beside Me, or Slightly Forward?

Where do you think you should be looking during a breath in front crawl? I’ll tell you where you should never look – forward. Like this.
You might not like that you can’t see what’s happening in front of you, but that’s just how it is with crawl.
Underwater or above water, we don’t look forward. Only down or to the side, maybe slightly behind.
Triathletes are rolling their eyes now because there’s supposedly a way to look forward, but in a normal front crawl breath, we look either directly to the side or slightly behind us.
And now pay attention to a common mistake – at all costs, try to keep your ear on your shoulder while inhaling.
It doesn’t have to touch it, but try not to lift it away and let it stay submerged in the water. Not like this.
Every time you lift your head forward or backward, your hips will drop down into the water.
This distortion in body position happens both when looking forward underwater and when lifting your head above the surface to breathe.
The correct way is to lift your chin toward the ceiling—not your forehead, not your eyes, not the top of your head. Instead, tilt your head slightly and push your chin toward the ceiling—your mouth will be there, ready for you to inhale. So, to summarize:
The correct gaze is directly to the side, with the ear resting in the water. An alternative is a slightly backward glance under your armpit—but be careful with your forearm, as that will ripple you like a worm, and we don’t want that either.
So: 1) don’t look forward while breathing in, 2) don’t look too far back, 3) don’t lift your ear off your shoulder.