It’s called the “diving reflex”. There’s a small area right between your upper lip and nose, that, when getting wet, triggers your body to stop breathing and slows down your heartbeat. IIRC it’s something all mammals have, but you can ‘override’ it. It’s pretty uncomfortable at first, especially the first breath, but you can train yourself to ignore it after a while.
Re: Swimming
Strong maybe. During the face down portion definitely, but when they turn their head the skin’s still wet, however your brain definitely knows that there’s air to breathe, probably automatically overriding that reflex.
RE: bobbing
Kinda. Especially small children and toddlers are incapable of overriding that reflex, meaning they can and will “drown” when that part is submerged.
The bobbing motion is just more efficient (for 99% of untrained swimmers).
You’ll do the same when exhausted while swimming.
Your body generally isn’t buoyant enough in a normal swimming position. Which means you’ll want to keep your lungs as full as possible, resulting in quick exhale, inhale, and then recouping (and sinking) while being lighter, requiring less force to resurface.
Krzd@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
It’s called the “diving reflex”. There’s a small area right between your upper lip and nose, that, when getting wet, triggers your body to stop breathing and slows down your heartbeat. IIRC it’s something all mammals have, but you can ‘override’ it. It’s pretty uncomfortable at first, especially the first breath, but you can train yourself to ignore it after a while.
sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 18 hours ago
Thanks! would this reflex trigger when swimming laps and turning your head to the side, or snorkeling with your face submerged?
When kids learn to “bob” down into the water and back up for air, are they fine tuning this reflex?
I’m definitely going to do more research
Krzd@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
Re: Swimming Strong maybe. During the face down portion definitely, but when they turn their head the skin’s still wet, however your brain definitely knows that there’s air to breathe, probably automatically overriding that reflex.
RE: bobbing Kinda. Especially small children and toddlers are incapable of overriding that reflex, meaning they can and will “drown” when that part is submerged.
The bobbing motion is just more efficient (for 99% of untrained swimmers).
You’ll do the same when exhausted while swimming.
Your body generally isn’t buoyant enough in a normal swimming position. Which means you’ll want to keep your lungs as full as possible, resulting in quick exhale, inhale, and then recouping (and sinking) while being lighter, requiring less force to resurface.