+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.
Do you mind sending me the link - the address you posted isn’t working for me for some reason. Curious to see what you bought?
Thanks
Band arrived from Amazon yesterday and tested it out after the kiddos went to sleep.
We have an umbrella holder in the shallow end so it was easy enough to just one end of the band around the umbrella.
With the band attached 6 inches below the surface and no goggles I felt like I was drowning for the first 30 seconds. Threw on some goggles and slid the anchor point up to about 3 feet of surface and that made all the difference.
Only went for a few minutes but looking forward to getting my system dialed. Anything more than about 1:30/100y effort has me scraping the far wall. I need to shorten the bungee or find a new anchor point.
Jury is still out, but it could be the best $18 I have ever spent on fitness equipment … oh plus the $XX,XXX for the pool.
Swimming Belt for Stationary Resistance Training with Drag Parachute and Elastic Tether - for Adults and Kids, Professional, Amateur and Recreational https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FJMAQPW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_zAh4ntlX88Pot
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Yes, that’s the one, thanks for reposting the link.
Glad to hear it’s working for you - you could even attach 2 tethers to your belt if you need more resistance. Good tip on the higher anchor point as well - I just fell into using a higher point, but I agree it likely makes a big difference.
Kinda crazy that a $17 device makes such a difference for a 5-figure pool!
as an alternative for those not wanting to spend money and still get the experience, you can loop two bike tubes together to make one long tether (with a knot in the middle) then loop one end around something solid at the pool edge, the other end around your ankles like a figure 8 and swim away. I’ll mix it up and do sets with paddles and vary speeds. Regardless you are right about mind numbing, I usually only go about 10 minutes of hard work and I’m done.