Swimming

SwimSwam Pulse: 79% In Favor of Seeing Live Biometric Data During Races

April 29, 2023

SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.

Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers how they felt about the possibility of seeing data while watching live events:

Question: Would you like to see live biometric data during races?

RESULTS

I’m a swim geek – I love this – 42.3%
I’m an elite swimmer – I love this – 32.9%
I’m a swim geek – I hate this – 11.4%
I’m an elite swimmer – I hate this – 7.0%
I’m a casual fan – I love this – 4.0%
I’m a casual fan – I hate this – 2.4%

With certain sports beginning to experiment with displaying live biometric data of athletes during events, the question of how this could potentially play into swimming is an intriguing one.

As Braden Keith pointed out here, live data could make the longer events in swimming a lot more interesting, with the possibility of comparing athlete heart rates in a 400 or 1500-meter race and predicting who might fade and who might make a charge given the numbers.

An underrated time to analyze swimmer heart rates could come pre-race—during the walkouts, in the seconds leading up to the athlete’s getting whistled onto the blocks. We would get a peak behind the curtain and see which swimmers are the most nervous or anxious, in theory, based on who has the highest heart rate.

During the 2021 Ryder Cup, certain golfers had their heart rates displayed and you could see them spike while they were on the first tee in front of massive crowds.

In races themselves, heart rate and perhaps other metrics (such as oxygen saturation) could certainly be interesting and add a new element to races, though in addition to potential inaccuracies in the data, athletes having entirely different baselines would leave viewers with no real context to what the numbers are indicating.

Certain broadcasts have leaned into things such as displaying a swimmer’s speed in recent years, which at times can make things a bit too busy and distracting, especially when the data is virtually the same for every athlete.

While there are certainly pros and cons to the idea, over 79 percent of readers voted in favor and adding biometric data to live broadcasts.

82.5 percent of those that identified as elite swimmers were in favor of biometric data.
78.7 percent of those that identified as swim geeks were in favor of biometric data.
62.5 percent of those that identified as casual fans were in favor of biometric data.

If the numbers are relevant to the race and can offer insight into performance while doing so in a clean and non-confusing manner, adding live data is certainly something worth exploring.

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Who should be favored in the men’s 1500 free this summer?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE

A3 Performance is an independently-owned, performance swimwear company built on a passion for swimming, athletes, and athletic performance. We encourage swimmers to swim better and faster at all ages and levels, from beginners to Olympians. Driven by a genuine leader and devoted staff that are passionate about swimming and service, A3 Performance strives to inspire and enrich the sport of swimming with innovative and impactful products that motivate swimmers to be their very best – an A3 Performer.

The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.

SwimSwam: SwimSwam Pulse: 79% In Favor of Seeing Live Biometric Data During Races