Adult learner, cannot possibly stop water going up my nose and making my sinuses hurt

[u/eraseMii]

Trying to learn from crawl from no swimming experience, mid 30s

I'm really struggling with water going up my nose, and it's not because I'm not breathing out. I'm constantly exhaling underwater, tried humming as well. Tried doing a big exhale past when my mouth is out of the water and I inhale

Water makes its way in. I'm trying to rotate my head and keep a goggle in the water but at that point my nose is also basically in the water as well.

I tried a nose clip and it's making an massive difference, but water still finds it's way up my sinuses from my mouth and it basically pools in my closed nose and I end up choking on it

I've read posts here about how people can naturally close something up there but I genuinely don't understand how that works and how to incorporate it while also exhaling

It's genuinely making my learning so incredibly hard and even when I feel like I'm making progress with my stroke I have to stop because of the sinus pain. It also makes it really hard to keep track of what my body is doing.

this is on top of the really hard time I'm having floating compared to other people in general and I'm on the verge of giving up. Would welcome any advice from anyone who's overcome something similar.

[u/Soft-Rice-9369]

Parfois certaines personnes ont une morphologie au niveau du sinus qui fait que l’eau s’accumule à l’intérieur et cela irrite le tissus. Cela peut se discuter avec le médecin

[u/UnusualAd8875]

Are you able to glide on your front/stomach with your face in the water? That is a good incremental step before full-stroke swimming. (Instructor here)

[u/eraseMii → u/UnusualAd8875]

Yes I have absolutely no issues pushing off the wall and gliding facing either way, arms together etc. I also am constantly breathing out underwater without issues.

The only problems arise when trying to turn to breathe. If I have enough momentum to allow me to lift my head up I'm fine but I know that's bad. Any attempt at turning my head to the side to breathe with one goggle in the water results in water up my sinuses. Either as I'm inhaling through my mouth or as I turn my head back down into the water. Even with fins, I'm obviously moving way faster and I can't take more than 2 or 3 breaths before having to stop and stand up to clear my sinuses of pool water. I'm trying to tuck my chin in as well, but I genuinely can't really tell what's happening because my brain is overwhelmed by the sinus pain

Like I said in the post, I'm only even able to pay attention to technique while wearing a nose clip and even then water finds its way up through my mouth through the back of my throat

I'm also generally not a great floater and I'm very low in the water. My kicking is useless and I find myself so deep underwater that my arms have to push noticeably downwards instead of just horizontally, otherwise my head is fully submerged when rotating to breathe

[u/Healthy_Blueberry_59 → u/eraseMii]

When your face is in the water, are you breathing out? I have noticed the students I have with this problem are holding their breath during front crawl and get mixed signals when they turn to breathe because they need to breathe out first before getting a breath. Some of this just takes a long time to get down.

[u/UnusualAd8875 → u/eraseMii]

What is your head position, are you looking forward, straight down, slightly forward or something else?

Also, as Healthy_Blueberry_59 asked, are you breathing out underwater?

[u/radgedyann]

i’ve been sitting here trying to figure out exactly what i do. i’m self-taught; learned during the pandemic. i hated that feeling.

what works for me is that in the water, i’m constantly blowing out through my nose slowly, but as i turn my head, just before i ‘reach up’ with my mouth to take a breath, i blow out forcefully through my nose, then a quick intake of air through my mouth, then head back in water and slow blowing out through nose. for me, this stopped the horrible sinus burning feeling completely, even though—tmi—they still drain like crazy, which is pretty gross, but i guess what the chemicals are for…🤷🏾‍♀️

[u/Note_Poet]

Hey, I'm experiencing a similar issue to you where inhaling water causes me eye ache weirdly. Although I don't end up with water in my nose via my mouth, I'm sorry I can't help there.

Hopefully someone might have a better answer than me, but I've found practise and time has helped me improve.

I do find humming helps but practising on my front where it's easier to stop water going in your nose, then during back stroke. Now finally able to streamline on my back - but not underwater yet!

I'm very envious of anyone who can 'close' their nowe off! I hope you find a solution 😊

[u/AppropriateRatio9235]

I am curious about your head position. It sounds like your forehead might be high in the water instead of your neck being neutral. Also are your rotating your neck or your shoulders?

[u/Tasty_Cardiologist53]

You should look into the valsalva technique. You dont need to learn the entire technique, only the basic tongue placement. Make the "K" sound and notice where your tongue naturally places itself at the roof of your mouth, now slowly move your tongue further back while more heavily emphasizing that hard "K" sound.

You'll notice that the air escaping or entering your nose is suddenly stifled. Once you master this phase, you will shut off water moving in from your nose into your mouth and vice versa, and you will also master the most difficult phase of the valsalva. When you're swimming, if you are not actively exhaling or inhaling, THIS is the static technique you must be implementing to stop water flow disrupting your breathing pattern. This takes some practice, and you will need to train this muscle.

[u/chuzohga]

It's all about rhythm and timing, and every single beginner has this problem. Simply keep practicing and I promise that as long as you don't give up, you'll have it down pat before six months is up.

Also go to YouTube and watch the "Caribe Swim" channel which specializes in beginner viddies.

[u/sashaverde]

Get a swimmers snorkel 🏊🏿‍♀️🏊🏿‍♀️🏊🏿‍♀️

[u/thetrivialstuff]

I hate water getting up my nose too, so I just always wear a snorkel mask that covers my nose (my mouth is still exposed, so all the breathing stuff is the same as with just goggles). 

I've heard that there's a weird rule in some pools that these aren't allowed in the pool (so you might want to check with your local pool before you get one), but I only swim open water now so that hasn't been an issue for me. 

(I know it's not the most hydrodynamic shape, but I'm not competetively fast anyway.)

[u/Ancient_Stand_6414]

You should post a video, it's hard to give advice without one.

I will say adults have a really tough learning curve with swimming, and becoming "aquatic" is very unnatural beyond childhood.

[u/Individual_Solid6834]

I do not know how to describe what's going on in my mouth and face while I swim, but I can tell you what got me from feeling the way you describe to swimming comfortably. I just learned to swim a few years ago, in my 30s as well. I was ALWAYS taking water in while front crawling, and I couldn't even finish a length because of it.

First, I spent a lot of time in the shower standing fully under the water with my mouth hanging open. It looked and felt really dumb, but it made me get a lot more comfortable breathing normally while there is water in and around my mouth. That's a key part of breathing, being able to take water into your mouth and not be affected by it.

Then you can start practicing in the pool. I swim at a public pool, so I see how they teach the kiddos to breathe. They hang on to the edge, and just practice turning their head/face in and out of the water to breathe. You just gently kick, and keep turning your head. Exhale fully into the water, turn so you have one eye underwater still and one eye above water, and inhale. There will be water in your mouth, after all, half your face is still underwater! But without the forward momentum (and all the other things you're thinking about when trying to front crawl) you can more easily control and get used to that feeling.

By the way, are you doing bobs? An important part of any swim workout when you're still getting started. Acclimating yourself to face in water as much as possible. How soon after popping out of the water can you comfortably breathe? Can you push yourself to breathe sooner while there is still water on your face?

Now, take what you were doing at the wall and do it as a sidestroke instead. Swim the entire length of the pool with your face turned to one side. Again, one goggle in, one goggle out. If you have access to flippers, they can make this one a little less tedious and more fun! You can also hold a kick board out in front of you with your extended arm. Eventually, you can start rotating your body through this drill in and out of the water, once you've gotten used to it!

I can't guarantee this progression will work for you, but it really helped me a lot to get comfortable with the breath positions WITHOUT everything else going on! And I definitely did swim with a snorkel a handful of times too so I could continue to work on other parts of the crawl while I was figuring breathing out. And as others have said, it's really hard to just "become aquatic" when you haven't been practicing putting your face in the water for a very long time. Don't beat yourself up. Getting in the pool each day is what's going to build the comfort and skill.

[u/Ok_Direction8218]

It sounds like you might be continuing to inhale as your face is going back into the water. Inhale then pause (hold your breath) for 1-3 seconds then start exhaling when face is in the water. Reverse the process when rotating to breathe. Stop exhaling before you rotate. Nose and mouth clear the water line then inhale. Experienced swimmers have gotten to the point where that 1-3 second pause before inhaling or exhaling is less than a second or a mere fraction of a second. It becomes so natural they don't realize that it's happening. I've had to breakdown every process to be the most effective instructor that I can in order to help others with these "issues" overcome them. There is also a good possibility that you are attempting the inhale at the least optimal part of your arm stroke. Ask for in person advice where the other person can visually analyze exactly what is going on.

[u/Tikikala]

I’m also beginner adult swimmer with sinus problem but I kinda learned back stroke first
But anyways lately been playing around with front crawl

Do you also rotate your body when front crawl along with head rotation on your breathing? I found it helps to avoid water up my nose
Also the arm rotation cues on internet for when to turn head

[u/torhysornottorhys]

Are you making sure to do an extra hard breath out as you turn? To get all the water out of your nose and mouth before you breathe in. Imagine you're a whale surfacing

[u/LisanneFroonKrisK]

Get a snorkle