The purpose of this study was to assess an impact of water immersion recovery after short distance swimming on the recovery process in pulmonary functions in individuals with the past history of bronchial asthma (PHA). Eleven Japanese healthy males with PHA (23 years) volunteered to perform two bouts of a 25-m maximal front crawl session in an indoor pool. The two bouts were separated by either 10-min of recovery on the land (L-session) or the same condition with water immersion to the neck (W-session), using a counterbalanced crossover design. Water temperature was 30 °C. Forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV_1.0) (%predicted) were measured according to the following time course; at baseline (REST), water immersion to the neck (WIN) before the swimming session, after 5-min (REC-5) and 10-min (REC-10) recovery with the assessment of dyspnea sensation (ADS) at the same time point. %FVC and %FEV_1.0 at WIN, REC-5 and REC-10 in the W-session were significantly lower than those REST. A similar reduction was observed at WIN in the L-session, and %FEV_1.0 at REC-5 was significantly different from those REST. The subjects had higher ADS at REC-5 in both sessions compared with those REST. %FVC and %FEV_1.0 at REC-5 and REC-10 in W-session were significantly lower than those at REC-5 and REC-10 in L-session. These results indicates a negative impact of not only water immersion recovery but also recovery on the land after short distance swimming on pulmonary function in individuals with PHA.