Anyone have any experience with these? I am going on a cruise in March and the pools on the ship are about 10’ x 20’. I tried one once that was a belt that went around the waist hooked to a tether. Unfortunately, there was no “give” in the tether cord, so that every time you took a stroke, the tether jerked you backwards and down. I have seen another type that is a pair of water shoes laced to a tether. Anyone know if this would work better? Anyone know of any cruise ships with an endless pool?
poor thread… damn shame… 4 views in an hour and a half at least.
i’m interested too. hotel pools in my case for work related travel (those damn kidney shaped ones kill me) .
BUMP!
“Anyone know of any cruise ships with an endless pool?”
Never been on a cruise but we’ve been on lots of Caribbean resort type holidays. Always found it hard to swim because there are always people horsing around in the pool, kids cannonballing off the sides without looking, etc. Your best bet is get up a bit early and be in the pool the minute it opens while everybody else is at breakfast and hope you’ve got enough time to do some sort of a workout before the madness begins.
You’re likely only going for a week or two so just adapt an attitude that you’re on holiday and will no doubt miss some workouts. No big deal, no need to stress over missed workouts, you can make up for it once you’re back home.
On a cruise ship you’ve probably got a pretty good gym, running track, etc.
Riptide. www.swimriptide.com I have one and really like it. Nicely made, works well. The buoy + attachment at the soles of the shoes make for a nice system.
Super friendly and efficient customer service. I had to send back the first pair of shoes because they didn’t fit and they sent me out the replacements before receiving my return.
Enjoy.
I have tried various cord and stretch cord systems and there are major problems if you want body movement that even faintly resembles real swimming.
The main problem is that, without any real forward movement through the water, your lower body (even if you kick realistically) begins to sink immediately. You could use floats between the legs, but you would have to use much more flotation than you would use normally when you do a pull set. And then your body angle would be very bizarre. Also, distance swimming is a fine motor movement more than a power based action. If you want to go fast, real swimming is very much based on “lift”, not paddling. Swimming in place (water not moving) encourages paddling. Actual swimming (with water moving around you) would encourage you to master ‘lift’ with your arms and body.
However, I looked at the Riptide and their video and it is very interesting. I have never used their system, but I am tempted to try it. If one was absolutely stuck with a miniscule pool, their system, complex as it may be, may be the only one that solves all the major problems mentioned above (except perhaps the ‘lift’ issue). Maybe you could try it. Another solution: stay off cruise ships. They are a crazy and very environmentally unfriendly way to take a vacation–they are major ocean polluters.
Anyway, hope that helps.
If you talk with the company owner/inventor, he’s the first one to point out the sinking problem of this type of device. The buoy is designed to alleviate the problem and does a pretty good job IMHO.
One curious thing I noticed about being tethered was that it makes you sensitive to the evenness of your momentum. If you recover very slowly you get pulled backwards by the tether. There’s a steady state you can find where you kind of stay in one place.
That Rip tide thing does look very interesting, except that guys breaststroke kick is hideous. 
If you can get a hand on this product, I would give it a try. If you can’t, I wouldn’t try to swim on the boat. Instead, if you need to get in the water, I would do some repeat shooters (underwater fly or flutter kicks in steamline) lengthwise. You can also do dryland (abs, push-ups, lunges), running or weightlifting on the boat I believe.
Hope these tips help you out. Have fun.
“Another solution: stay off cruise ships. They are a crazy and very environmentally unfriendly way to take a vacation–they are major ocean polluters.”
Everything in your reply made a lot of sense except that last statement. Obviously, you haven’t been on a modern cruise liner lately. The latest Royal Caribbean ships have thier own sewage treatment plant onboard that releases nothing but nearly pure water into the sea. Nothing is thrown overboard–in fact, they get mad at you if you even let a paper napkin blow into the water. Everything is taken off the ship and recycled. The top rank cruise lines know they can’t poop where they make their living.
Tethered swimming is a viable alternative to already over crowded prisons.
Thanks, I know a place that sells these.
Hate the things… I travel a lot in my job… Enjoy your vacation-- skip swimming for a week. Run the deck or the treadmils and maybe take spin on a stationary bike. Your swim firtness wont suffer in a week or 10 days. Not worth the effort or hassle. Swimming is difficult and boring enough in a pool while moving – doing it “stationary” makes it really bad. Skip it.
Tf
i think they are really intended for working on your quick start/sprints, not really as a substitute for an endless pool. it can help you work on getting a fast start out of the pack at the beginning of your swim but thats about it. you could try an open water swim when youre in port or just relax and enjoy the vacation.
“Obviously, you haven’t been on a modern cruise liner lately…”
This is a little off topic, but you sound like a rep from Royal Caribbean talkin’. You don’t work for the travel industry do you? Have a fun time out there, but don’t fool yourself about cruise ships’ dismal environmental practices. Think I’m making all this stuff up?
A quote for you: “In 2001, Royal Caribbean admitted in court it had installed special piping to bypass pollution control devices and pleaded guilty to dumping toxic chemicals. Royal Caribbean was levied fines and penalties totaling $33.5 million to settle dumping complaints that occurred between 1994 and 1998…”
Check out http://www.surfrider.org/a-z/cruise.htm
IMHO the best option for you would be a $40 set of dryland swim cords. You can work on your stroke, build strength, and do a bunch of other exercises that are useful for triathletes. For the price swim cords have to be one of the best investments a triathlete can make.
Well, obviously the fines did their intended job because last year I was on Royal Caribbean and they were hyper-sensitive about anything going overboard. Constant reminders all the time on CCTV, etc. I’m sure they don’t want to lose another $33.5 M.