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Thanks, it made sense when I watched too many YouTube videos but wondered if it was a thing in the real world. Picked a not too pricey one up in Decathlon today so we’ll see. And a few more microfibre towels for the rest of the family, I think they’re amazing value.
inchpincher-
I was thinking about a snorkel but I've been lazy and got into a bad habit of only breathing on one side (every 4 strokes). I used to breathe every 3 strokes without a problem but since I've got older and slower and generally plod I don't need as much oxygen. The knock on effect is that my technique for breathing on my left is awful, almost comedic, as I'm so out of practice- it just feels so unnatural.
Of course, I just need to breathe on alternate sides on alternate lengths and I can continue to be lazy and breathe every 4 strokes.
Once I fix that, and get my fitness up, I was going to dedicate one or more sessions to drills to focus on technique, a snorkel might be useful (I've got most of the other toys already).
Tried my OH1+ HR sensor on the goggle strap today but messed up turning it on so it only recorded a 3 second activity and not the subsequent hour long swim - I thought I hadn't turned it on properly first time and my attempt to start it again only stopped it. Still, it sat there comfortably for the entire swim.
Have gone from barely managing 500m three weeks ago to doing 3km today relatively comfortably. Idea is to build up the long swim to 4km and then start the focus on technique to get the time down to an hour (currently doing ~19 minute/km) without completely rinsing myself.
Greenbank
I briefly tried. Couldn't get on with it but should try again.
Girlfriend, who is a much better swimmer than me, has done a few times though. She found it pretty useful to not have to worry about breathing and just focus on a particular part of technique. We've got a 50m pool nearby and she was able to just put her head down and swim 1k at a time without lifting her head.