For those of you unfamiliar with the sport of competitive swimming, there are three main elements to race preparation: the taper, the shave and above-all, the downright hard work. But over the past few years, swimmers are making room for an addition to their typical training armamentarium – artificial intelligence powered performance analysis tools.
In 2015, Canadian-based tech start-up, Tritonwear, led the charge in bringing swimming up to speed with other sports which have been using innovative technologies to improve performance over the past decade. The company has since released an updated version of its swimming wearable in 2019, the Triton 2. The product is worn under the swimmer’s cap and is able to track an impressive array of swim metrics, including push-offs, turns, breathing rates, breakouts and even number of dolphin kicks underwater. The data is sent wirelessly via Bluetooth to the coach’s or swimmer’s tablet and displayed in real-time graphs. Multiple swimmers can be tracked simultaneously on one tablet for coaches to oversee the performance of the entire team in the water.
The technology even has the capability to perform motion analysis. Coaches are able to take a video of the swimmer in action and sync it with the power of acceleration and speed data from the wearable to perform a frame-by-frame stroke analysis. It shows swimmers exactly where they are gaining or losing speed. The technology is also able to do a comparative percentile analysis of a users’ metrics within a given stratification (age, speed range or geography) to show exactly which aspect of their swim or race needs attention.
Why is this revolutionary?
Let’s talk typical race prep. The taper – a period of days to weeks before the race that strives to achieve a balance between rest and conditioning. Exercise is gradually reduced in a strategic manner to optimize neuromuscular and psychological factors which in theory, should prepare the swimmer for their best performance yet. The shave – nothing fancy here. Swimmers, male and female, shave any exposed body hair for two reasons: to reduce drag in the water and more importantly, to remove the top layer of dead skin cells which sensitizes the superficial skin cells. The latter is mainly for the psychologic benefit of magnifying the swimmer’s feel for the water, giving them that slippery sensation as they race to the finish.
As Angela Duckworth pointed out in her book, Grit, swimmers are some of the ‘grittiest’ athletes. By 12 years old, many are already hopping into the pool for swim practice twice a day at least a couple days per week… and the mileage in the pool only amps up from there! Varsity swimmers are training 14+ hours per week in the pool, plus 5 to 10 hours per week dedicated to land-based strength and conditioning routines. Considering the sheer number hours in the pool required to excel in this sport, how can the average weekend warrior or masters level swimmer compete? It’s hard enough finding the time to get to the pool, and on top of it all, now you need a coach if you want to get any better.
New technologies like Tritonwear are disrupting the typical team-based training and coaching model in swimming. Athletes are able to become more independent in their training through use of the device as it allows any user access to elite level performance feedback. Prior to these devices, only Olympic-level racers had access to the support of entire teams of data scientists and specialty coaches. These technologies connect the everyday swimmer, masters level enthusiast, triathlete or amateur-level athlete with the same level of high-quality personalized feedback available to Olympians.
More smart-tech coming to market
Since the Triton 2, other similar technologies have sprung up such as the Phlex, LaneVision and Strokevision by Aspiricx. However, only the Phlex has been able to get to market. Another innovation in the swim world tech space has been apps like Speedo On, SwiMMinD and MySwimPro, which won the 2016 Apple Watch App of the Year. Through AI algorithms, MySwimPro is able to generate personalized swim training programs and practices based on metrics gathered through an Apple Watch worn by the user while swimming. It takes into account heart rate, stroke rate, split times and vibrate to signal to swimmers when to leave the wall to keep on pace. Again, this is another strive towards reducing the dependence of athletes on coaches and making it to the pool at the allotted team training time.
All these innovations are examples of disruptive technologies in the swimming world. A new business model is required to deliver the technology’s value to consumers. Arguably, these start-ups should consider looking beyond competitive club- and elite-level athletes. The weekend warrior with less time may value early technical correction to increase the value of their time spent training. The mass population of swimming enthusiasts would be a significantly larger target market available for capturing; and consumers would interact with the technology’s business model differently than the typical swim team registration model. However, no new technical competences are required for users besides the basic knowledge of using an Apple Watch or iPad. The wearable devices simply need charging and are ready for use. Data is automatically uploaded to the iPad or iPhone device and simultaneously interpreted for the user.
The future of tech in swimming
To stay ahead of the curve, some coaches are embracing the technology by signing up their club athletes to an annual subscription plan and findings ways to incorporate it into their coaching model to keep relevant and maintain their value-add to the sport. Some are analyzing the data generated through the program to become even more specific with training and taper plans for each individual athlete.
Without a doubt, top athletes need coaches psychologically for motivation, push and guidance, but what about the less competitive masters level and triathletes? With these new technologies providing value to consumers through highly specific coaching feedback at their convenience, it may be hard for some swimmers to see value in the traditional model of training around their coach’s availability.
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