Getting Help to Stroke It

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Just when you heard that stroke efficiency is what makes you go faster and you have started to count your strokes, you find it is easy to lose count. With one eye on the clock and your mind on other matters, you are also having trouble calculating the significance of the number of stroke cycles you took in the last set.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone else counted them for you? Maybe you are not competitively minded and simply prefer just to swim along at your own pace. Wouldn't it be more interesting if you could break up your long swim into sets and learn how well you swum each set on a daily or weekly basis?

Well, there is a solution - the Speedo Stroke Monitor. This is a watch with a black streamlined moulded case and heavy-duty strap. It has 4 hidden buttons around the side and 2 buttons on the front. The display is electro-luminous and what sets it apart are the two small electrodes at the 6 and 12 O'clock positions (more about them later). This watch has 4 conventional modes (time/date, stopwatch, countdown timer and setting the alarm) and 2 swimming modes (record and recall data). You use the record mode during training and the recall mode after training. When in the record mode, the watch will automatically display and cycle through the recorded information of the last set you performed and you only have to press the start/stop button each time.

So how does the swimming mode work? Well, first you need to tell your watch whether you are swimming in a pool measured in yards (typically in the U.S.) or meters (everywhere else). Then you tell it what distance you will swim. You then press the start/stop button, it gives you a visual and audible 5-second countdown and you push off the wall at the end of the countdown. When you finish the distance, you simply press the start/stop button. Press to start, press to stop; that's all you do with each set. If you are doing timed sets and are eying the clock for the start of your next set, remember to start the watch 5 seconds before your leave!

After you complete each distance and press the stop button, the watch will automatically scroll through (every 3 seconds) the following 6 titbits of information:

  1. Elapsed time in 00.00.00
  2. Number of stroke cycles - since the arms move independently in freestyle and backstroke, 1 cycle = 2 strokes but in butterfly, 1 cycle = 1 stroke.
  3. Distance per cycle (DPC) - a longer DPC means more efficient swimming and can be increased by minimising drag or increasing propulsive force. For most swimmers, simply minimising drag will reap the most benefit.
  4. Cycles/min (CPM) - a swimmer who has an optimised stroke length (DPC) can easily increase speed by 'shifting gears' or increasing cycles per minute.
  5. Speed (metres/second) in 0.00 - a handy indicator which gives your speed effort.
  6. Stroke Efficiency Index (SEI) - the computed SEI encourages increasing the distance per cycle and your speed so that the higher the SEI, the better the swim.

If you swim varying distances, you can change the distance on the fly and store up to 30 sets for later reviewing. Although the data cannot be uploaded to a computer (no real need since the data becomes intuitive as your times/rest for the sets), you simply delete whatever sets you don't need after reviewing or before you start your next workout.

Now, back to the electrodes. Water (pool or seawater) provides a path between the electrodes so that it 'knows' when you have placed your hand in water thus simulating an arm stroke. You must rub your finger over the electrodes regularly to keep them clean and responsive. I'll leave it to you to figure out why the watch cannot be used to count strokes in breastroke.

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I would like to explain more but your brain may explode