Testing the Waters: FINA to Enter New Frontier With Wearable Technology in Races

FINA is entering a new frontier with its recent rule change regarding wearable technology in races taking effect Jan. 1, 2023.

Technological breakthroughs in the past decade have paved the way for increasingly small sensors to be placed in swim caps or suits, capturing information such as push-off strength, maximum acceleration off the wall, and stroke rate throughout a race. 

“The use of technology and automated data collection devices is permissible for the sole purpose of collecting data,” the new rule says. “Automated devices shall not be utilized to transmit data, sounds, or signals to the swimmer and may not be used to aid their speed.”

The data flow is only one-way, so metrics cannot be shared with swimmers in real time — at least not yet — but the democratization of swimming analytics still figures to have far-reaching effects on athletes, coaches, and media alike. 

“We don’t know every aspect of this, but we thought this was the right time to make this right step,” said Mike Unger, who’s beginning his second year as director of sports competition at FINA. “And where does the data go? It could be whatever athlete is at the highest level, whether this be at the Games or World Championships or whether this be at a local competition, coaches and athletes are going to make decisions on how to best use it, and take it forward to hopefully help athletes and coaches be better. That’s a big goal here. It can be done internally within the sport within our endemic world that we’re in, or if it can attract sponsors or broadcasters, who knows? This maybe opens up a category that FINA hasn’t thought about before, as a sponsor, for instance, or a partner or supplier in some way.”

TritonWear CEO Tristan Lehari said the wealth of data will “demystify” the daunting challenge of reaching the Olympics by providing performance benchmarks in a variety of areas. 

“Right now, we have time standards that we aim for, no matter what level of athlete,” Lehari said. “What we’re going to have now because we’re going to have access to all this data for all levels of athletes in every country around the world, we’re now going to have this massive database that we can build standards not just based on time but based on speed underwater, push-off acceleration, stroke rates, distance per stroke, whatever it is. All the different metrics we’ll have as inputs and targets that we’re aiming for. 

“So it’s going to basically demystify what it takes to make an Olympic final, what it takes to make the Olympics,” Lehari explained. “Not just based on these times that seem four or six years out almost unattainable for an athlete, but what skills do I need to do? What inputs do I need to put in the system to have that time happen at the end of the race? So from an awareness and education perspective, that’s just going to bleed down to the entire swimming community in a really positive way.”

FINA Technical Swimming Committee chairperson Craig Hunter pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as another reason to modernize the sport and make it as attractive as possible to younger audiences. 

“I think we’ve just got to be as open-minded as we can,” Hunter said. “I mean, I think we all recognize the challenges of the world that we live in. COVID took away literally tens of thousands, if not millions of young kids from sport, and swimming in particular. So we’ve got to make it as appealing as possible. Embracing technology and how that’s going to help to develop our sport can only be a good thing.”

For FINA’s forward-thinking leadership, being open-minded means revisiting old conversations about why swimming has traditionally been against any form of pacing during races. 

“Other sports like track and field, for instance, if you’re running the 1500 meters, after you pass 400 meters, you see your split,” Unger said. “It’s right in front of you, like you don’t even have to look up there’s a clock as you pass the finish line. There’s a clock that tells you what your split was. Why can’t we do that in swimming? Again, we don’t have the answer to that yet. We’re not saying it’s a permissible thing. But it’s something that we are being open-minded about considering.”

Unger also noted that most backstrokers can already see their splits up on the scoreboard at major events. “So it’s already happening to a degree, circumstantially.”

How technology fits into the future of racing remains to be decided. FINA officials say that creating a process for approval of any gear is a priority, but there are no details yet with a few months still to go before implementation of the new rule. If FINA’s adoption of video review is any indication, however, a lot can change in a short amount of time.

“I think a classic example of how things can change pretty quickly: When we first introduced the use of underwater judging video cameras (in 2019), it was always to review the call that had been made on the deck,” Hunter said. “And within 12 months, we were moving to real-time officiating. So the judges started to use it in real time to initiate a call.”

Both Unger and Hunter offered examples from other sports when speculating about practical uses of the technology. 

“I think there’s a lot of interest from broadcasters that this might be another angle to look at,” Unger said. “What data is captured that can be really important? If you’ve ever watched poker, they track what your heart rate is like, what your blink rate is like — all that sort of biometric data. There’s still some lack of understanding about what we want in that area, but there’s so many data points that anyone else can just look at. Stroke count, for instance, stroke rate. There are swim geeks who would like the data, but there are also non-swimming people who might find it interesting as well.”

Hunter brought up a recent cross country skiing competition during which the race’s leader was interviewed via headset halfway through his race. 

“Now if you’ve ever cross country skied, you know how incredibly hard it is, and I’ve done some and it’s killing,” Hunter said. “But there he was, with a completely controlled heart rate, and giving this kind of interview. Now I’m not suggesting we would do anything like that, but the world is moving on so, so quickly, and it’s important as a sport that we continue to develop as well.”

It’s an exciting time in the world of swimming with leaders seemingly willing to push the boundaries more than ever before. 

“We’re trying to make changes in the sport that are smart, methodical changes,” Unger said.