In today’s installment of Meet My Partners for 2024, my swimming is thrilled to introduce you to eo SwimBetter. I was recently introduced to eo SwimBETTER by Brenton Ford of Effortless Swimming as I looked for ways to be more competitive with the strong-swimming triathletes in my age group. Despite  my best efforts at improving my swim technique and fitness over the last few years, I had been stuck at the same 1:40/100y in my Olympic-distance race and I was frustrated by my lack of progress.

eo SwimBETTER is a palm-based sensor technology that objectively assesses the effectiveness of your swim strokes. It measures your strokes’ propulsive forces, and limiters, and offers insights into how to swim better, faster, and farther.

eo SwimBETTER has already become another game changer for me as I strive to become the best triathlete I can be and to compete against the best in the world in my age group. It is also helping to drag swimming, a sport that still uses analog clocks and whiteboards, into the 21^st century of competitive sports.

eo SwimBETTER  uses “force sensors” that strap onto the palms of each hand to measure five important areas related to swimming propulsion: stroke rate & force, force field, stroke path & hand velocity, consistency, stroke phase, and force vs. time (I realize these metrics sound pretty scientific, but they aren’t that complicated once you learn what they mean and have immense practical, real-world value).

My first use of the eo SwimBETTER  handsets finally showed me why I was so slow. My propulsive forces were low (see propulsive in the image to the right) and my downward forces were high (see down in the image to the right). I was also expending forces to the left and right instead of directly back. According to eo chairman, Jaimie Fuller, Propulsive forces should be around 75%, Downward forces should be below 20%, and left/right forces should be around 4%. Yikes, I have a long way to go!

What these metrics showed me was that I was pushing down and sideways instead of back during the pull phase of my stroke. So, I needed to focus on a high elbow, a more horizontal pull, and a more rear-facing hand position. I’ve set aside my speedwork in the pool for the next month and am totally focused on making this key technical change (and a few other minor changes) to my stroke.

I’ve been using the eo SwimBETTER  handsets for only a few weeks and I have found the metrics incredibly helpful (for example, I’ve doubled my propulsive forces). By knowing exactly what I’m doing wrong, I can focus on what precisely I need to do to correct my technical liabilities. I can see clear data of how technical changes translate into propulsion and, ultimately, speed. I can also track my progress over time.

So, if you want to finally understand why you can’t swim any faster, and you want to make measurable changes that will result in both a more effective swim stroke and faster swim times, then you need to check out eo SwimBETTER.

And check out all of my Partners on my website to learn more about these amazing companies.

Disclaimer: I gain no direct financial benefit from your buying my partners’ products. I partner with and support these companies because I believe in them and am confident that you would benefit from what they have to offer as well.