counting swim laps

Check this link out.....http://www.swimovate.com or I hit my lap button on my watch every 50 meters.  The poolmate works great though!

there is a cool product listed on the gear reviews that fits like a ring that has a button counter. I poor man it with a handful of change. I get an extra breath but this fat boy needs it.

First swim with my Swimovate today I got for Christmas... love it. 

I just start the timer on my water-proof watch and hit the lap button ever 100 yards (that's ever 2 laps for me). Then I have my 100 yard splits and my average pace / 100 when I'm done! I've been doing that for 2 years.

Happy swimming!

Sportcount. I got one from Amazon for about $25. It fits on your finger and you can press the lap button with your thumb. Counts laps, total time, average time, fastest and slowest laps, and individual laps. Not as cool as the Swimovate but does the job for me and becomes intuitive to press the counter. Now if it would only speed me up...

x2 on the Sportcount.  I've had mine for over 2 years and the battery is still fine.  It's also great for track workouts.  Quite a useful little gadget.

Sport Count x3! It's my favorite piece of training equipment.

x4 on the sportcount. I gave one to a friend for a present as well.  Even if I forget to tap the button on a given lap, I can review all the laps and figure it out when one or two laps are twice as long as all the others.

another sportcount user here

x2 - Santa got me one for Christmas and I love it. I did a 1200m swim (48 lengths) and it kept track for me without missing one lap (I also kept count in my head to make sure it works).
I also now know my stroke count. 

Awesome thread!  I have had this problem for a while and didn't even think there were better ways to count.  I just bought one of those sportcounts.  The other one was a bit pricey for me, I figured it was worth saving $60 by just having to push a button.  I got the one that tracks all your laps times.  Sounds like a really cool device.

These devices sound great. I just don't have one. What I do is just push up one of the rings in the divider lane for each 50 I do, separating it from the rest of the rings. I'm not a flip turner so I've got a second to do that. That might help until you can get a lap counter. Very best wishes in your swim training!

When I'm doing long swims, I know how long 100 m should take, and check my watch at the end of each 100m to make sure 1) I'm not slacking off, and 2) to keep track of distance.  During IM training, my longest swim was 4K straight and I got a little lost with a couple hundred metres to go, but was able to keep track pretty well.

I just use my sports watch with lap function.  Just hit it every 100 meters.  I use the same watch on runs.  Keeping the accumilation of gadgets to a minimum is priority to me.

Maybe it's just me, but why do you need a toy to count your laps? I learned a very easy method from my swim coach, that actualy helps me improve my swim technique. Every time my right hand enters the water I count my stroke and everytime my left hand hits the water I count/recount my lap. it would go something like this (1,1) (2,1) (3,1) etc.. then when you hit the wall (1,2) (2,2) (3,2) etc... It helps my technique because I know how many stroke per lap I take, and that helps me know if I am maintaining my form or not. It also take my mind off of my horible kick. (The more I try to Kick the slower I go.) When I don't think about my back end, it end up be much faster and less effort. Just my 2cents.

I actually count my laps in my head.
I do most of my workout in sets of 10 lengths (250 yards), to make things easy.
or, 20 lengths, like when I do 5 x 100yards.

I do dream about a swimovate tho'.

I use the finis swimsense and it has been accurate for freestyle and backstroke (over 5 swims).  I tried the sportcount, but it seemed easier to just count in my head rather than remembering to press a button at the end of every lap.

I'm pretty in love with my SportCount.  Save 15% using code TRI1012.

(Where was this discount when I paid full price about 2 weeks ago?)

Hi, 
Here are some new Swimsense reviews by DC Rainmaker and DShen if you are looking for more info to dig into. 

 

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/12/hands-on-look-at-finis-swimsense.html

http://www.dshen.com/blogs/training/archives/finis_swimsense_review_and_comparison_with_the_swimovate.html

 

it really isn't that hard just to remember how many laps you are doing.  Typically we would break it up into the respective 50s or 100s.   So for example, if you had to do a 200, you would just think it is 4 ...50's.  and boom..pretty simple. Did we lost track sometimes? Of course.  You could use the clock just to check yourself (if you are finishing way early...thats a sign).  If you are still having trouble..I would suggest to stop thinking about other stuff so much ( we all do it) and just keep saying the number over and over.  After a while, you will get use to it, and you will be able to remember better. 

To keep track of sets (i.e. 20  25s or 8 200s)...you can use the little things on those lane markers.  
No one uses clickers, pens, pencils, chalks, because that would involve stopping, altering your stroke etc.

Just give it time, it will come.  

 

That's fine if you are doing sets.  Knowing your distance for 100 - 300 yds/m is easy.  Where it gets impossible to do it accurately is for long test sets such as a T30.  How do you count laps accurately for a 30 minute continuous swim?  Was that 1,700 or 1750 yds?  Unless you're Rainman, the answer is "you don't".

But, I don't only use my Sport Count for continuous swims.  I use it for sets, because it records my swim & rest intervals that I can then log.  It's useful to see that you're pacing youself properly during a set to maintain the same pace or descend if that's the goal of the set.  Having swim times logged can also help you know when it's time to change your interval for the next workout.  For example, stop doing sets of 100's on 2:00, and start doing them on 1:55.  Counting in your head doesn't keep track of time.

Also, the Sport Count is just a ring that you wear on your index finger and hit with the thumb of the same hand as you turn, so it doesn't alter your stroke at all.

I have a SC, how do you count rest with it?  Mine's orange.

For a really cheap method you could use a little pile of pocket change. For example: 4 pennies, a nickel, and a dime could be used to count to twenty laps. Just slide the pennies over until you get to five, replace with the nickel, etc. If you want to go further than twenty I suppose you could just start all over again.

Question for all of you with the Sportcount ring....is it adjustable? I  have sort of freakishly small hands, and I'm afraid it would fall off...