We’ve seen no shortage of crazy tech introduced for swimmers in 2016. Now SwimSwam has a few ideas for the tech-loving swim fans on your list this holiday season.
For the Lifestyle Athlete: Apple Watch Series 2
Retail Price: $269 USD
Apple finally has something you can drop in the pool without needing a bag of rice to get working again. The new Apple Watch Series 2 has been marketed heavily to swimmers and fitness freaks alike as a do-it-all smartwatch. Add the Swim.com app to it and it’s the perfect tech gift for swimmers who live the athlete lifestyle. The Apple Watch Series 2 does everything in it’s power to keep you healthy; it even tells you when to breathe.
The Swim.com app takes the Apple Watch Series 2’s waterproof design and turns it into a swim tracking powerhouse. Simply press the “Start” button at the beginning of your workout and the app will automatically calculate your distance, detect when you’re swimming or resting, tell you your splits, stroke count, stroke rate, heart rate and everything else your coach has been banging into your head. What a world we live in.
For the Stats-Happy Coach: TritonWear
Retail Price: Varies
TritonWear is all about the stats. This setup tracks everything, from time spent underwater to stroke rate to turn time. And it’s all visible right on the coach’s iPad on the pool deck.
Each swimmer being tracked wears a small unit on the back of their head that uses sensor data to track the swimmer’s motion through the water. The data is transferred wirelessly through a custom RF protocol to a base station connected to the coach’s mobile device. The coach can instantly get feedback and communicate it to the swimmer, or save that data for the swimmer to view later.
TritonWear was developed in Waterloo, Ontario (home of Pebble and the BlackBerry) by former swimmers and is endorsed by some of the top coaches in Canada. They’ve also got a contest going on now to win a free starter pack so you just might be able to pick up your coach’s gift for free this year.
For the Warm-Up Rock-Out: FINIS Duo
Retail Price: $119 USD
Finis has been making underwater MP3 players using their patented bone conduction technology for a long time and now they’re more affordable than ever. The Duo offers a dead-simple, no-strings attached (OK, fine. There is a cord.) way to get your music in the water with crystal clarity and nothing to stick into your ear canals in the water *shivers*. Just plug the Duo into your computer like a thumb drive, drag your warmup playlist over and you’re ready to go. This gift is perfect for the swimmer who likes to warm up with some tunes.
Have more holiday gift ideas for swimmers? Post them in the comments below.
Disclosure: Some of these gift ideas are sold by companies which advertise with SwimSwam.
Cool