Quote Originally Posted by DebW
Is the alternate breathing supposed to help you go straighter or help you see where you're going or just equalize the effort? I've always been a left-only breather but can swim pretty straight regardless. For open water swims, is it considered proper form to occassionally look forward to see where you're going?
My swim was in a triangle. Ideally, I was to swim between the rafts with lifeguards and the 4 or 5 orange bouys. I am a notoriously crooked swimmer. I always *feel* like I'm swimming straight; I almost never am. So I need to look up pretty often and check my bearings. I was supposed to keep the bouys on my right. As a left breather, this meant I was never looking at them when I came up for air. I had to breast stroke to see the bouys. The longest leg of the swim was directly into the rising sun. It was hard to see the bouys at all; I just aimed for the rafts. If I'd been comfortable freestyle swimming and breathing bilaterally, it would've been easier. Oh, the things you learn in triathlon!

In the Int'l tri I've done before, they have tons of bouys, held together with a rope. I can just swim from bouy to bouy and stay on course. Much harder to do yesterday. Fewer bouys, no rope.