Why Some Swimmers Wear Watches in the Pool

Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of pretty good swimmers who wear their watches in the pool?  There's a good reason and it isn't just because they spend a lot of time in the water and need to know when to get out in time to get to work, home for dinner or their next appointment. 

If you look closely, most - if not all - of the watches are digital.  Most digital watches have a chrono function (stopwatch), a timer (lap counter), an alarm and several other functions. 

You don't have to be a great swimmer to take advantage of using a watch in your workout.  Even the slowest swimmer can find creative uses for the functions that are available.  I personally use the stopwatch function daily.  I just push start at the beginning of my session and track lap-times during my flip turns (yes, under water) to be sure I'm keeping a pace that I desire. Some people push a button at this time to count their laps and to use after their workouts or between sets to see how their split times compared.

There are innumerable watch choices out there.  I've used many over the years and none are expensive.  Currently I favor the Timex Ironman Triatholon.  The numbers are large enough that you can see it underwater in limited light, the buttons large enough to press without injuring the nerve endings in your finger tips, plus their functions are fairly intuitive.  The added bonus is that the strap is rubber (or something like that) so it instantly repels water.  You can pick it up at Target and other big box retailers for about $39.95.

Finally, my two best reason for wearing a watch in the pool are:

• It's too easy to think you are swimming faster than you really are - wearing a watch will bring you back to reality - fast.
• The watch strap is a great place to put your ring(s) - I always think they are going to fly off my hand if I don't strap them down and I don't trust storing them being in my locker or pool bag.