SWIMMING GEAR- SOME BASICS Always wear a swim cap
when you are in the swimming pool. Also, stay away from latex caps,
stick to silicone caps. Silicone caps last much longer, latex cap get
ruined easily from the chlorine in the swimming pool water. Whether you mind or not having water in your eyes you should wear goggles
while swimming. Take your time to try the goggles, see how they fit
your eyes. They need to be comfortable and steady on you face. You can
find fantastic goggles with universal nose-piece systems, leak proof
shapes, hypo-allergenic, fog resistant and UV materials. That much for
the basics, now let’s get to the cool swim gears which can really make a different for your swimming fitness and physical benefit. A pull buoy
is a piece of closed-cell foam, usually shaped like the number eight,
used in swim workouts and to be placed between the legs. Pull buoys
provide you with support for hips and legs so you wont have to move
them. Hand paddles are
plastic devices you wear on your hands during your swimming workout
which make your hands bigger and therefore make you develop strength.
They can be used while swimming any stroke and may be used together
with pull buoys to maximize the effect. Swimming fins can
be used to increase strength and endurance in your legs. They are used
on all the swimming strokes but breaststroke. As for arms and hand
paddles you can use fins to focus on the leg kicking technique. The best wetsuits are
those that fit snugly into the athlete's body. This may sound easy yet
the differences are told by the unique body build the racer has. People
are often fooled by the impression that the wet suit does not fit
correctly when all the while, it has the proper fit saying "the suit is
too tight'. A wetsuit designed for triathlon is your best bet. A non-tri wetsuit will not provide any speed or help with actual swimming. Triathlon wetsuits
keep you warm and help you swim easier and faster. This is due to the
improved body position and buoyancy which reduces drag. The wetsuit is
also designed to slip easily through the water which also reduces drag.
