by
Olivier Poirier-Leroy
Looking to level up your swim training with some tech? Here are the best tech and gadgets for swimmers.
Swim tech has exploded in recent years.
Different swim gadgets and tech can better inform your swimming performance, helping you do deep dives into the data of your training.
In a sport where gold and personal bests are decided by hundredths of a second, the right technology in the water can help you train smarter and better.
From tracking every last meter of your swim workout (without the need of a coach or a pace clock) to listening to a motivation playlist to mastering stroke rate and tempo, here’s a look at the best tech gadgets for improving swim performance.
Let’s dive in!
The best tech and gadgets for swimmers include:
Next, we will look at each swim tech in more detail, outlining ways you can use them to improve swim performance at the pool.
The FORM 2 Smart Swim Goggles are the coolest form of tech for swimmers today. The goggles made a big splash (yes, there are lots of swim puns in this article, so buckle up!) when they launched in 2019.
They were the first swim goggles with a heads-up display that showed swimmers real-time swim training metrics. Everything from splits, stroke count, distance, average distance per stroke, and more were right there for swimmers to use and analyze their swimming performance.
The complementary swim app that comes with the goggles is extremely detailed, and with the release of the FORM 2 Smart Swim Goggles, it can be used to upload custom workouts and training plans to the goggles for swimmers to follow along with.
The FORM 2 Swim Goggles represent the ultimate in tech and gadgets for recreational and competitive swimmers, offering a wealth of actionable training data and real-time workout metrics to keep you focus and motivated each day in the pool.
All the wins!
The Apple Watch is a smartwatch made by the same folks as the iPad, MacBook, iPhone, and others.
While not designed specifically for swimmers, the Apple Watch is the best watch for swimmers thanks to a waterproof design, a slim, hydrodynamic casing, excellent native swim tracking app, and access to many feature-rich swim apps for additional training and tracking features.
Apple Watches are IP6X waterproof rated and the Workout app that comes with the device has pool and open water swim tracking capability.
The Apple Watch is almost hysterically accurate for swim training (far more accurate than my Garmin Fenix, for example) and is the only swim watch I’ve ever tested and used that properly logged kick sets.
For swimmers who want to level up their training with programmed workouts and training plans and get the jolt of motivation from community features, some excellent third-party apps like MySwimPro, Swim.com, and Phlex are compatible with the Apple Watch.
Listening to music during swim training is a killer way to beat the lap swimming blues, improve stroke rhythm, and get hyped up to swim fast and train hard.
But unlike our land workouts, where any set of headphones will (generally) do, the water poses additional challenges for a music player to create clear, unmuffled sound.
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro intelligently get around the issue of trying to play music in the water by pumping your favorite playlist directly into the jawbone.
One of the main pain points with swimmers and waterproof music players that use earbuds is water inevitably getting into the ear, creating tinny sound.
The wires on these players also get tangled on the head with swim goggle straps and the earbuds are prone to getting jostled out of the ear canal when performing overhead arm strokes when swimming.
The Shokz OpenSwim Pro uses a one-piece titanium frame that clips securely over the ears to produce crystal-clear sound, a slim, hydrodynamic profile, and unlike other wired waterproof headphones, stays out of the way so that you can focus on technique and effort.
Listening to music when swimming is an excellent way to swim faster, improve endurance, and even swim with a better cadence, and the Shokz OpenSwim Pro are far and away the best music player for clear sound in the water.
The FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro is a fairly simple form of tech that can do wonders for helping swimmers master stroke rate, pace, and even build a more developed swim stroke.
The gadget is essentially a digital metronome that emits an auditory beep at the interval or tempo of your choosing. Set your tempo, clip it to your cap or goggles, and swim along to the beeping.
Here are some of the things you can do with this piece of swim tech:
The FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro is part swim coach and part interval timer, but all awesomeness in terms of getting faster in the water.
Developed by former NCAA division I swimmers at the University of Florida, Phlex is primarily an AI-powered swim tracking app that is either paired with your Apple Watch or a dedicated device clipped to your swim goggles.
The app is wildly intensive and accurate, providing a deep range of data, including all the standard stuff like time, distance, stroke rate, heart, and calories burned.
The app gives detailed information about your sets, making it an excellent tracker and app for swimmers who crawl their workouts and main sets for insights to improve.
The tracker, which is made by Polaris, is slim and is clipped to your swim goggles so that it is placed against the temple, giving excellent heart rate tracking.
For swimmers who like the old-school approach of swimming without a watch on but want ALL the data, the device is a great option.
Once your workout is over, sync with the app on your smartphone or tablet and you can review your workout in depth.
Learn more: https://www.phlexswim.com/
The FINIS Smart Goggles are another smart swim goggle, similar to the FORM 2 Swim Goggles.
The inside of the lenses features a heads-up display that shows swimmers all of their training metrics in real-time and FINIS pairs the goggles with a best-in-class swim app that is awesome at sorting and displaying all of your training data.
The FINIS Smart Goggles differs from the FORM 2 Goggles in several key ways, including:
Heads-up display has to be “looked” at. The HUD on the FINIS Smart Goggles is tucked into the corner of the lenses and requires swimmers to swing the eye to see the data. This can be beneficial for swimmers who only want to check in on their training data and not have it displayed 24/7.
Less open water features. The FINIS Smart Goggle tracks only elapsed time when doing open water swims, while the FORM 2 Goggles tracks stroke rate, heart rate, and elapsed time. The FORM 2 Goggles also introduced a cool feature called SwimStraight, a digital compass that helps swimmers swim straighter in open water.
See also: A more detailed review of the FINIS Smart Swim Goggles and its key features and performance in the pool and in open water.
The FINIS Smart Goggles also come in at a lower price point, is available in multiple goggle lens colors, and the HUD is removable and can be used with a new set of FINIS goggles.
The SwimGadget Tiny Pace Clock is a cool little piece of old school swimming tech that you can take with you each day to the pool.
The device is a small analog clock that is strapped to your water bottle, helping you track internals, maintain consistent swim pacing, and give instant feedback on your swimming.
It features the same design as the classic pace clock—you know, the four multi-coloured hands, slowly arcing around the clock—and places it at the end of your lane.
The Tiny Pace Clock has a clip on the side with which you can print out your workout and clip it in, keeping your swim workout of the day visible.
While it won’t track and log your swim training, the nostalgia and portability of the SwimGadget Tiny Pace Clock make it a fun addition to any serious swimmer’s collection of tech and gadgets.
Learn more: https://swimgadget.com/pacer/
Swimmers have a lot of tools at their disposal to improve their swimming, from smartwatches to the old-school analog pace clock.
Whether you are a noon-hour lap swimmer or aspiring for golden glory at the Olympics, using the right tech and gadgets can improve swim performance, make your workouts more enjoyable, and give you the data to train more effectively.
Add the swim tech that aligns with your goals in the water and propel yourself with data and personalized insights for faster swimming.
Olivier Poirier-Leroy Olivier Poirier-Leroy is the founder of YourSwimLog.com. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach.
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