Swim system video

So we have had the swim system in place and working for a couple of weeks now.

I LOVE IT!

YES - the movie above is of our pool. I took this clip this afternoon - it is difficult to see clearly - but when the remote is activated you can literally see this wave of water come out of the rotors and move down the pool. When running at speed you can see three distinct currents - the main flow down the center of the pool that one swims against, then the return streams on both sides as the water is pulled back to the rotors.

I am managing to swim just about every day that I am home - while that has not yet been as much as I like, I am still hoping that it is going to help.

So far it has not been me that enjoyed the system the most - it has been the folks who have visited us! With the FASTLANE pushing water at its maximum rate, the pool effectively becomes a water park. Our friends Greg and Jaemi and their five kids spent a really fun evening with us - and between riding the current towards the shallow end - then floating back along the sides as the water is pulled back into the jet - the kids had a blast.

At its maximum the swim unit is designed to push out a current that is the equivalent of swimming the 100 yard freestyle in about 58 seconds. Yes I can "beat the current" and swim from one end of the pool to the other against the flow - but that is NOT to say that I can maintain that pace!

I am turning the "flow" down sustancially from its max - and then swimming about 18 inches away from the rotors... the slower current reduces a lot of the turbulence in the pool (remember that at max it is pushing 5000 gallons a minute - effectively turning the COMPLETE water contents of the pool over once every 5 minutes!) and allows me to try and swim for a few minutes at a time before I allow myself to coast back to the shallow part of the pool.

My fitness level is SO LOW that I expect my "continuous" swimming is only 50-100 m at a time - but starting where I am I think ANYTHING is positive in terms of benefit.

And yes - I have purchased the swimp3 player - looking to get it loaded this week on the road and try it out next weekend!