Makes me wonder if replacing a regular pool swim with a tethered swim might actually be good for improving speed. Like once a week or once every two weeks…
Hah - I secretly ‘stalk’ you and your posts as we’re both in Silicon Valley and I think our race times are surprisingly similar =)
I saw that you recently installed that small pool on your property, and seriously, I thought the main reason you installed it was exactly to DO tethered swimming!
This is the tether I got - it’s great. The LONG tether is the key - it smooths things out a lot. (Ignore the parachute - the tether is wayyy too long to use with the parachute in a pool.)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FG36EXC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Despite my thumbs up recommendation, I’m gonna say it now - I seriously doubt you’ll use it more than 3 times. Because it’s SO freaking boring! Even with waterproof headphones, it’s still gonna be crazy boring. I’m using it because I have literally no other option and have upcoming races in 2-3 weeks, so it’s time for me to HTFU and tolerate the boredom. But no way I’d do it at home, with the option of your regular pool in your case, or the Vasa in my case!
Makes me wonder if replacing a regular pool swim with a tethered swim might actually be good for improving speed. Like once a week or once every two weeks…
Maybe - if you’re doing the short tether mentioned above to find dead spots.
If you’re using the long-tether style one that I’m using, forget about it - you’ll be bored to tears, and it won’t get any additional benefit over swimming normally.
Hmmm…I’ve got a million elastic bands that I use for strength training in the off season, and I have a pool. So, I’ve got everything from 3lbs rubber to 50lb rubber in 4ft lengths. Did you use a waste belt or ankle attachments? I’ve read in other posts on ST, that the ankles is the better way to go.
Seems like a new set of drills targeted at using the tether is needed to combat the boredom, and metrics needed to measure improvement.
Thanks. My pool is 25 feet (not yards) long with a 5 foot shelf that is 6 inches deep, then an 18-inch step that is 2 ft deep. So that leaves 18 swim-able feet of pool or 6 yards. That is the distance from the flags to the wall (minus 5 inches).
So when I say small, I mean small!
I do this on overnights when I can’t get to a real pool (all though the Westin Crowne Center in Kansas City and there’s a Hilton in DC that both have outdoor 25y pools) and it’s boring, but I get thru it. Strange sensation for the first few mins, it always feels like i’m drowning.
Hmmm…I’ve got a million elastic bands that I use for strength training in the off season, and I have a pool. So, I’ve got everything from 3lbs rubber to 50lb rubber in 4ft lengths. Did you use a waste belt or ankle attachments? I’ve read in other posts on ST, that the ankles is the better way to go.
Seems like a new set of drills targeted at using the tether is needed to combat the boredom, and metrics needed to measure improvement.
I use a waist belt setup, but I do suspect the ankle band setup might work even better.
Interestingly, since the dock post that I’ve looped my tether to is higher than the water, I get the exact same feeling of buoyancy that I do with the wetsuit - it seriously feels like I’m swimming with a wetsuit.
Thanks. My pool is 25 feet (not yards) long with a 5 foot shelf that is 6 inches deep, then an 18-inch step that is 2 ft deep. So that leaves 18 swim-able feet of pool or 6 yards. That is the distance from the flags to the wall (minus 5 inches).
So when I say small, I mean small!
6 yards of length is fine for the tether - you just have to find the right anchor point that matches your ability to stretch the cord. I’d definitely try it if I were you - you can even make small marks on the pool bottom (or drop coins) to mark levels of effort - I was able to get efforts surprisingly similar to a 10 x 100yd set by trying to swim out to a mark that had me cranking pretty hard, and holding it for the same amount of time I do a 100yds. Was really legit feeling - I had to really HTFU to stay on that spot!
Have done this in my Walmart backyard pool. Tie it to my fence post and go to town. Only issue I have is after I get done with a session (30-40 min) about 10 min. Later I get massive vertigo. Brain goes wonky and world spins for about 10 min. Still do it but not as regular as I could.
Ordered it today. Will be here Friday.
With a 2-year-old and a 5-month-old racing is on hold for a bit and I haven’t done a real swim since Tahoe 70.3 in 2015!
Maybe this could get me prepped for a sprint. Finding time to go to the pool was the first thing to go.
What lake are you on? Can you shoot some video of the tether work?.
I swim 7am - 9am, then say 4-5pm. Boat wakes are more of an issue- but I know what you mean, you hear the engines zinging away and I always stop to check out what’s going on. In the morning there is no traffic in my bay.
We have a stretch cord/belt with carabiner connect on the dock. Used it once or twice last year. It’s a heck of workout at full stretch then pulls you back as it recoils. I’ve never used it for more than 5 minutes tho.
I’ll hook it up tomorrow…
Couple of runs this morning.
- No pocket to breathe so kinda annoying to lift the head - this is my biggest beef with it.
- Actually I felt it was really good for kick/stroke timing, symmetry. That was fun.
- Cord gets hung up in the feet sometimes, but not too bad
- Want to stretch it to the max then of course hold it there (which is what most of swimmers do). Not easy to sustain!
- I couldn’t see swimming hours on this thing? I’ll try to back off a bit next time, I suppose.
@sharkfm - great video! I see your tether is nice a long one - looks even longer than the one I have!
I don’t kick much (I try not to) so my legs don’t bump my tether at all.
It rained here today so very few boats out in the rain breaks, so I spent 40 mins swimming from our dock to the neighbor’s dock and out to a stationary minidock out further out in the water (probably about a 150m loop). Happy to say that tethered swimming seems to cross over extremely well to ‘real’ open water swimming - normally for me OWS is always a bit challenging compared to the pool due to the sighting, etc., but since I’ve been on the tether in the lake, this is the first time that it’s felt really smooth and natural. For sure, it felt easier than the tether - because you get the fun of going forward!
I’ll be back on my tether tomorrow as the sun and boats will be back out. Weirdly enough, I’m starting to like it - it’s kind of like a Vasa - you just get in a groove (I make myself sight every 5th stroke so it feels natural) and don’t have to worry about sharing a lane, circle swimming, or flip turns. If I had a small backyard pool, I would definitely do this for swim training.
Here’s the OP in action-
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No pocket to breathe so kinda annoying to lift the head - this is my biggest beef with it.
I use a snorkel for that reason. IMO tethered swimming is a great way to work on timing. If you have a dead spot in your stroke you’ll notice it right away.
+1, the appearance of the swim snorkel on the accessory market makes the whole swim tether experience slightly more bearable.
I made mine out of some cheap skinny bungy rope from a climbing store, zip ties, one busted old surf leash ankle strap, and an ankle timing chip strap from a race.
Effective training but utterly mind-numbingly boring.
::edit:: anyone considering one of the Endless Pool installations should first try a tethered set-up to see if they can live with that first.
I never thought about using it on my feet. Good idea. I use it a home with the waist belt but feel it pulls my feet down a bit if the tether is at the small of my back. Maybe tied to feet will work better.
The boredom is real for sure with tethered training. Maybe one could put a tablet in a waterproof bag and watch a movie while swimming in place? lol…
I’ve got one of these which I’ll use on occasion in a 25y pool. From a time perspective it effectively turns a 25 yard length into ~40 yards. It’s not exactly USRPT in terms of the ratio of work to recovery (by the time you let the tether pull you back) but you can still get a good workout in and it’s a fun way to change things up in training.
Nice review.
Not a tether, but I OW swim with Orca’s swim buoy (which they seem to have done a poor job of promoting). I figure a black wetsuit is pretty much invisible in the water and a yellow swim cap doesn’t do all that much.
I have one of those and use it as well - I brought both the tether and the swim float/buoy to the lake with me, and both have gotten use.
I use the one that ThomasGerlach recommended, but it’s pretty much the same thing as the Orca. I haven’t had any problems with boaters getting to close to me near shore (where I swim) even without it, but I figure if I can add safety without sacrificing quality, it’s all good.
Today it’s going to be nice out, so I will swim normal laps parallel to shore until the neighbors show up (their houses seem unoccupied right now and I swim past their waterfront) and/or the boat density gets significant, at which point I’ll switch to the tether for water running or tethered swimming.