Serious road cyclists tend to like using cycling computers (or "cyclometers") to provide them with performance data such as their speed, cadence, distance traveled and power output. Swimmers can also get their pruned-up hands on tech that makes keeping tabs on training sessions much easier and this example from Speedo will appeal to pool-goers for one reason in particular - it automatically counts laps. The Speedo Aquacoach watch uses technology developed by UK-based Swimovate to automatically detect the stroke and - along with counting laps - calculate distance, speed, number of strokes and calories burned.
The Aquacoach is water-resistant to 100 meters (328 ft), works in any pools over 15 m (49 ft) long and can remember up to 50 swim sessions so users can try to beat their previous performances and measure their progress.
An accelerometer combined with custom algorithms counts individual strokes, and keeps track of laps by detecting the pauses between strokes that occur as the swimmer is changing directions (and it works for both tumble turns and pushing off the wall).
These Aquacoach is the result of a four-year agreement with Swimovate, a company founded by triathletes in 2007 that invented the technology and has been selling its own swimmer's watch known as PoolMate since 2009.
The Aquacoach is listed at EUR130 on Speedo's European online store but had not yet surfaced on the U.S. site at the time of writing.
