

TL;DR when you learn breathing in the right way, crawling is the best
I began swimming regularly 10 years ago or so. Nothing serious, just a couple of times a week, to try to keep my back in shape (spoiler: it wasn’t enough for that but it is really good for heart and lungs)
Well, initially I found that backstroke was better for me too, because I wasn’t able to breath regularly during crawl and I wasn’t comfortable having my head in the water all the time (and water in the nose… Not a good feeling)
In the long run I learnt to breath well, and to gently push air out from the nose while the head was down. So now I feel much better crawling than backstroking. In the sea even more, because while backstroking, a wave can hit my face and send water in the nose easily, and this doesn’t happen while crawling.
Then, to each their own, but this was my experience
As @donjuanme@lemmy.world mentions, I swim with goggles, it’s much better. Morever since I was having issues in the pool with clorinated (I’m not sure it’s the correct term) water I also use a nose clip. But when swimming in the sea (Mediterranean sea, no ocean, usually) i don’t mind the water in the nose, as I told, I usually keep it out by slow expiration, so that air pressure keeps water out. But a good mask covering your nose would be a good solution too, as suggested by @donjuanme@lemmy.world