Dear Editor:

The article “The Breath of Life” (Oct. 3) included a comprehensive guide to breathing during workouts and the benefits of healthy breathing as a key to feeling and living better.

The American Red Cross wants to make sure that readers have a clear understanding about holding your breath while swimming.  The expert cited in the article stated that there is potentially no danger in holding your breath under water for long periods of time and that your body will try to breathe for you.

While this is generally true, it can be misleading.  As the nation’s foremost expert on water safety, the Red Cross helps people learn how to be safe in the water.  Based on more than 90 years of water-safety experience, we know that some swimmers utilize dangerous breathing techniques to try to stay under water longer.  This is called hyperventilation.  By taking a series of deep breaths and forcefully exhaling, carbon dioxide in the blood is reduced; this delays the time when the carbon dioxide would normally trigger the demand for the body to take a breath.  If a person hyperventilates and then swims under water, he or she could pass out before the brain signals it is time to breathe.  By the time someone notices the swimmer has been under too long, it could be too late.

Healthy breathing is an important part of feeling and living better; healthy breathing while swimming is critical.  The Red Cross encourages swimmers not to hyperventilate and to work on safety skills with a certified Red Cross water-safety instructor.

-Joyce Bathke

St. Louis Health and Safety Director, American Red Cross