The Old Problems

You want to see what your swimmers are doing underwater, but filming swimmers under water can be tricky, expensive and time consuming because:

1. Wireless signals (WiFi and Bluetooth) don’t work in water, so it’s hard to control simple action cameras remotely from the deck and/or see live video for instant feedback
2. Built-in custom made systems are prohibitively expensive, if not impossible to implement at most pools/clubs/teams
3. Few companies that do it in US in their own facilities in various ways, charge thousands of dollars per one time, but you should see technique at least a few times a year to make necessary corrections. Preferably much more often than that, for significant changes to actually take effect and stay for good.
4. Editing video well takes more time than filming it and not everyone has the know-how, nor the computer software/hardware, to consistently and efficiently do it themselves.
5. Jerry-rigging something (AKA the good old “GoPro and Selfie Stick” method)… is doable, for sure… but will often produce questionable (out of frame/focus, shaky) results and you can’t see the footage on a screen as you are filming/watching. It’s also impractical, if not impossible, to use with a larger group of swimmers, vs. just one or two. That makes it rarely worth it, time and hassle wise, for a busy small team/club coach or owner.

A New Solution

What’s one to do? Do some info-digging and just build our own rig, of course. Ideally one that solves all of those problems mentioned above and then some. Easier said than done, but…

Yes, we are coaches (as well as parents of budding swimmers and ex-international level competitors) ourselves, so we had the same problems- the need to teach athletes correct technique, both for speed and also for injury prevention reasons… but no means to do it well and consistently with large groups of swimmers and/or… without spending a ton of money.

We wanted a set-up that’s:

• Portable, not fixed, so we can use it in different areas of the pool and move it around easily
• Able to cover all angles, both over and under the water
• Easy to set-up and break down
• Able to hold multiple cameras, as well as multiple screens, simultaneously
• Able to see live stream footage and record under water from the deck
• Safe enough to use around pool full of kids, so steady and NO external power source required
• Efficient enough for us to quickly film kids in large groups and then create technique review videos for them to view at home or with a coach
• Reasonably priced

After mucho elbow grease, brainstorming, testing and experimenting we finally have it… and sure as heck use it on a (very) regular basis with our own swimmers.

Anyway, click on the button below and get the full story of exactly HOW IT WORKS. Or, take a look at a bunch of (video) samples, guides, tricks and tips we gathered from our experience filming hundreds of swimmers, to show you what’s possible, in our RESOURCES section.

(Quick Aside: You can totally use all this info to build your own setup from the start and start using video to help your swimmers- Our contribution to the “For the good of the sport of swimming” cause, apparently, so go nuts if you wish. We’re cool with it and you’re welcome!)

Also, in the same vein of goodwill, check out YOUR OPTIONS for renting our gear, buying it, or just hiring us to do all the work for you, including technique analysis added rght to videos. At very affordable prices, too!

But enough pontificating about the bigger picture and our own greatness, just go take a look at what we came up with already…