Swim Tethers

A swim tether is a flexible line that you attach between yourself and the pool wall. Some are only long enough to allow you to move perhaps a few yards before halting your progress. Then you stroke in place at the end of your oversized rubber band for however long you want— perfect, some people feel, for training in a short backyard or hotel pool.

The idea sounds reasonable enough, letting you do your workout in a fraction of the space. But unfortunately, with a very short tether holding you in place the backward tension on your feet or ankles is so unnatural that it becomes almost impossible to do anything other than swim awkwardly, which is counterproductive for anyone working on skill. On the other hand, a swim tether that’s long enough to let you swim all the way to the end of the pool (for a 25-yard pool this would be about 30 feet of relatively light tubing) can yield some useful lessons. Such a tether lets you swim against gradually increasing resistance—the last 5 yards can be very tough—as you move steadily forward.

The best thing you can do while wearing a swim tether is count your strokes, work on reducing your strokes per length (the total will obviously be higher than when swimming unimpeded), and play swimming golf. Use a sports watch to time yourself, add your stroke count to your time, and you have a score. On subsequent lengths, work on reducing it.

You can even practice sprinting. After you get all the way to the far end, rest at the wall (hang on tight!) for a moment, then turn around and swim back as fast as you can, the belt pulling you along faster than you could ever swim all by yourself. This is called sprint-assisted training, and it teaches your muscles to move faster than your best race pace.

But if you’re working on your stroke count or your golf score, just float lazily back to the starting end, letting the cord do all the work. In just a minute, you’ll need the energy you’re saving to fight your way back down the pool again.

Two things you can say about swim training aids: You don’t necessarily get what you pay for, and an idea that sounds good on paper or in ad copy doesn’t necessarily make sense to your body. The simplest “pool tools” seem to work the best. And never forget that the simplest of all remains your own body.