What it looks like when... you breathe low on butterfly

The world's top butterfly swimmer of the last several years is of course Michael Phelps. While he does some things that are unconventional that may not be right for age group swimmers to duplicate, he does one thing in particular very well which often goes unnoticed. He breathes very low to the water, keeping his chin scraping right along the surface of the water. You can see what I mean by this in the top picture. This is very important in butterfly. By doing this, Phelps eliminates any unnecessary up-and-down motion, which cuts down on his drag.

Many young swimmers make a mistake (like the swimmer in the bottom picture) by coming up too high out of the water to breathe. Because they are tired and concerned about getting enough air, these swimmers breathe high. This requires extra work and in turn makes them get tired more quickly and need more air, beginning a cycle that is nearly impossible to break.
To make your butterfly as fast and efficient as possible, be sure to breathe low to the water. You can do this by keeping the following things in mind:

1. Use your hips and legs to make the dolphin motion -- don't pick your head up and down.
2. Focus on pushing your forehead toward the other end of the pool, even when you aren't breathing.
3. Snap your kick as you push yourself forward to breathe.
4. Use your hands to push water backwards rather than down!