I was a competitive swimmer in my former years. Now just triathlons. This is a nice tool to work your stroke and breathing. Takes a little getting used to, but I have no problem with turns or taking in water. It will help you keep a linear stroke if you don't swim straight. I like how it separates my breathing from my stroke rate. I add a 200 easy with the snorkel or a few 100's when I do my drill sets. Almost feels like a concentrated hypoxic set after using it. I like it!
my son likes it.
Excellent tool to increase swimming strokes. Yet, if you have never used a snorkel you should make sure you keep to the shallower end of the pool for a quick response stand-up on the pool floor. Once you have it down (i.e. head position) you will enjoy the fact that you can increase the number of laps you usually do during a routine. Excellent if you want to build strength, stamina, and speed into your swim drill.
I have been swimming with this snorkel for 3 months and I love it. I would recommend the extra "cap" be purchased as well. I have not had any issue with water entering the snorkel. This snorkel has allowed me to continue swimming despite a cervical disc problem. I won't lap swim without one ever again!
It has a little leaking while swimming but it helps to keep your mouth watery after 1 hr so you don't stop for a break...
So far I've had a problem keeping water out. Purchased clip from Finis for top to help keep water out but it didn't seal correctly. Unless you are a very accomplished swimmer you should order the more upright version of this snorkel. Concept is great if you have issues with breathing when you swim.
The snorkel only works if you have perfect head position and you maintain that position for the duration of the swim. Second, even if you have perfect head position you need to swim in a pool with no waves/chop. If you swim on a masters team with lots of waves and chop then you will constantly be fighting water in the snorkel. Get the regular adult snorkel not the freestyle snorkel it sits higher out of the water.I have been a masters swimmer for many years, and compete regularly. I am currently reworking my freestyle stroke to increase my speed and efficiency, and my coach recommended that I get this snorkel. He said that using a snorkel will take my breathing out of the new stroke and would make it easier to focus on just my head position and new arm stroke. I used the snorkel and can't seem to go more than 2 laps without too much water building up in the tube. I asked a coach to watch me swim with the snorkel and he said that my head position looks great and was pretty consistent, but the snorkel opening only sits about 1 inch above the water. So any waves in the pool or any small bobbing of the head and water will come in through the opening. On the positive side, it worked perfectly on flip turns. I had ZERO water come in even after 4-5 fly kicks off the wall, but it does want to shift to one side of your head as you rotate from your back to stomach during the fly kicks off the wall. I finally went out and bought the regular adult snorkel. This one sits much higher out of the water and works great for me. Unfortunately it does not work as well on flip turns. After my flip turn while I am shifting from back to stomach during my fly kicks the snorkel twists to one side of my head. So you you need to either stop and correct the position or correct it with a quick flip of your hand during your recovery stroke while swimming. I decided that it was easier not doing a flip turn, but rather stopping and pushing off the wall. I hope this helps.
Hard at first to get breathing down. 3 workouts later and every workout has brought new insight. Nice to be able to watch your hands and feel the water. The whole dynamics of swimming, catch, rotating, body and leg position takes on a new sense and purpose with these. Certainly translates to better swimming overall. 2+ years into swimming and I put in over 20 miles per month. I'm enjoying it and learning more about my own swimming. Butterfly last night was really odd. No need to bring your head out of the water to breath, just keep moving. Still the occasional flood of water when my head goes too deep or I look up too much. More things to work on. That's what swimming seems to be about. Perfect Practice makes perfect swimming.
I have tried this snorkel at practice a few times since I bought it, and each time it gets a little easier to use. (The first lap or two, I nearly drowned myself, as it definitely takes some getting used to breathing underwater. I would recommend using a nose plug with it until you have the hang of it.) I haven't yet figured out how to actually do a flip turn without getting the snorkel full of water, but I suspect that will come with practice as well. It's a fun end-of-practice horse-around tool that I'm keen to get better at.
I've used the regular Finis swimmer snorkel and like this one better. The other one always had problems with the purge valve leaking after awhile. The moisture buildup doesn't bug me, as someone else mentioned. My mouth tended to get dry when working out anyway. I've got a bad spine/neck so it lets me keep my head low in the water. I use the cardio cap to extend the length of the snorkel a little and prevent any water getting in from other "splashy" swimmers.
