Product
FINIS: Swimsense
Promise
A swim performance watch that monitors your swimming prowess – and can even tell what stroke you’re doing
Performance
We’re always told that swimming is one of the best sports for our bodies – it’s low-impact, great cardio and builds muscles. Plus you’ll get a body like Johnny or Mrs Weismuller in no time. But how to really monitor your performance; how do you make sure you’re challenging yourself and improving each time you hit the pool? Swimsense is the answer. This little device that you wear as a watch automatically records your performance as soon as you start your simming stroke. It can tell what stroke you’re doing (via motion sensor technology) and will then analyse that workout and give you the results – good or bad. It’ll let you know the distance you swam, the calories you’ve burned, the pace at which you’ve attempted those different strokes, lap time and the efficiency with which you’ve been ploughing through the pool – so you can improve on them all next time around.
Obviously pools come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. No problem: the Swimsense allows you to configure its settings for unique pool sizes, length of the pool, plus your own gender and weight.
One of the best things about this device is its size – you’ll hardly even know you’re wearing it, yet the data it records is extensive – and, most importantly, incredibly useful if you want to improve your training with each visit to the pool. It’s great for amateur swimmers (like us – who just want to improve our stroke and swim farther each time) and athletes who are really racing against the clock and for whom swimming efficiency through the water is everything.
The price includes an intutive free online workout viewer so you can upload your workouts to your computer and review your past swims (via charts and raw data) so you can monitor your progress and improve your performance (we reviewed the Nike band last year, which does a similar thing for runners).
As new software updates become available, you can also update the Swimsense via your computer.
Verdict
We love this device. Don’t be put off by the price, either. If you’re a regular in the pool, this will make sure you’re improving each time you jump in the water.
