Swimming Computer from Swimovate

Brands such as Polar have been focusing on heart rate monitors and sports computers for a long time. And those things are quite useful, even for the average jogger. This is the first computer I’ve encountered that’s targeted toward swimmers. Not only does this Swimovate Pool-Mate swimming computer keep track of time, it also has several additional useful functions built in, such as a lap count and speed measurement.

Why It’s Clever

Serious sports people obviously want to keep track of their performance and progress. Most jogging and cycling computers do just that. They keep track of your time, but they often also keep a log with timings, averages and other data that can give you an image of your progress over time.

This Pool-Mate is no different, except that it offers similar functions for swimmers. For instance, it keeps count of your laps (sometimes I manage to lose track of laps when I have my face in the water). I have no idea how the thing knows when you start a new lap, but the integrated motion sensors surely play a role. It even gives you information on strokes per lap, swimming speed, distance and calories. The built-in software must be quite sophisticated, since it can calculate that data for the four major strokes – freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly – while automatically recognizing the stroke you’re using. All this without needing calibration for your specific style. The makers claim an accuracy of 99.7%, which is quite amazing.

The swimming computer logs up to 400 sessions, allowing you to evaluate your progress over time. But you can also monitor your stroke and efficiency within a single workout. I don’t know about you, but in my case the strokes near the end of a session tend to be a little less enthusiastic than in the beginning.

There are two things I find a bit regrettable, however. First of all, the website doesn’t mention that you can also use it for running, so I suppose the answer is no. Secondly, it doesn’t mention a heart rate monitoring function either. I can imagine that it’s difficult to measure the tiny electrical impulses coming from the heart when the electrodes are submerged in water. But a friend claims that she has swum with her Polar heart rate monitor and chest band and that the Polar monitor did work.

Here’s a video demonstration, showing that it even works with imaginary water. Saves you a trip to the swimming pool.

Summary

Wrist computer for swimmers
Monitors laps, speed, time, distance, calories
Freestyle, breaststroke backstroke and butterfly
Enables evaluation of progress
Water resistant to 150 feet (50 meters)
Backlight.

Tips

An upgrade to a Pro version should be available in the near future for a nominal charge. This version will allow you to interface the Pool-Mate with a PC.

The pool needs to be at least 45 feet (15 meters) long for correct readings, but swimming in an even smaller pool isn’t much of a workout anyway.