How the heck do I swim freestyle without waterboarding myself?

I don’t get why I’m having this issue. I used to swim competitively in middle and high school and freestyle was my best stroke.

Now I’m nearly 30 and just started swimming 4-5 days a week again at my gym a few months back. I kill it with breaststroke and backstroke but for some reason I can’t seem to do freestyle at all anymore without basically drowning myself. I breathe every second stroke and tend to do so on my right hand side. But there’s definitely something I must be missing because I never remember this being an issue for me prior.

Any and all tips appreciated!