breathing patterns while swimming freestyle (aka Front Crawl) will help you keep your swim sets interactive, better cardiovascular, lung capacity, better stamina and increased endurance.
Keep Odd patterns to keep the Bilateral Rotation to keep you symmetrical. Breathing every 3rd, 6th, 9th and + if you want.
These breathing patterns will mock a race like feeling because the chest starts to burn, lungs start to burn and stroke starts to fall apart. This is when the mental training comes in and forces you to talk to yourself while swimming to keep every part of your stroke consistent.