Why I am committing to flip turns.

In one of my last races, I realized I was thrown off by getting a mouth full of water (which i was oddly ok with) and missed my breath(which I was NOT ok with). In review, I recently had a revelation, that while I was swimming in a pool and doing open turns, I was CHEATING, and taking 2 breaths. This not only makes me lose a little momentum, but gives me the extra breath, which helps me swim more comfortably than I could at the same intensity. I acknowledge that flip turns make your overall swims faster, but that isn’t what I am concerned about. Speed in the pool isn’t my priority. This off season, I am committing to flip turns because it will force me to be comfortable holding my breath in the middle of a hard effort, and more importantly, it will teach my brain to be ok with that. That wave to the face taught me something after I lost my rhythm and was caught off guard. I need to be ok with not ALWAYS breathing every other stroke. I am hoping this helps me change; I guess we will see.