New FINIS Swimming Snorkel

Previous posts mention lower back pain and my speculation that it is due to turning my head too much and/or too far when turning my head to breathe while swimming freestyle.  The pain seems to happen when my technique is sloppy - typically towards the end of long distance (e.g., a mile for me) swims. So I've cut back my swimming distance (today swam 1200m) and I purchased a snorkel.

Internet research revealed that I'm not alone in suffering lower back pain from swimming; the recommended solution is to use a snorkel to avoid having to turn the head to breathe. Apparently several atheletes (e.g., Michael Phelps) use snorkels for training. This is a center snorkel so it aligns with the center of your face (unlike a scuba snorkel). After swimming 1200m today, I gave the snorkel a try; it worked fine but I suspect will take awhile to get used to. I normally exhale through my nose and mouth under water and take air in the same way. Not sure if I should continue to exhale through both and try inhaling just through the mouth (obviously) with he snorkel on. FINIS literatures says they provide nose plugs for junior swimmers; I guess us adults are supposed to be able to figure out how to cope without plugs:) I also bought a cardio cap that goes on top of the snorkel to make it harder to get air. Supposedly this builds cardio and is used by athletes to simulate high altitude. Who knew:) Glad I bought the cardio cap because it was much easier swimming with the snorkel than without so need something to make it more difficult. The best part is that the snorkel allows one to focus on stroke technique rather than breathing.

Side view

Front view.