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Derby Masters test Misfit Shine Swimmer's Edition

Master’s swimmer Andrew Czyzewski was part of a group of swimmers asked to test Speedo’s Misfit Shine Swimmer’s Edition.

Lane-testing the Misfit Shine Swimmer’s Edition

The start of January brings with it the inevitable New Year’s resolutions and fitness goals for the next 12 months – particularly for those many masters swimmers who have vowed to put in more metres this year.

Can the latest technology really help meet those goals? With wearable fitness trackers seemingly the ‘must have’ gadget this Christmas − we decided to put the latest device on the market through its paces.

The Misfit Shine Swimmer’s Edition, powered by Speedo is a type of smartwatch that claims to track swimming laps on all four strokes – as well as a host of other functions.

Masters swimmers Val, Andrew, Nick and Sharon were all involved in lane-testing.

The Masters T30 Challenge, where swimmers to try to complete as many length as possible in half an hour, provided the perfect opportunity to properly verify the Shine’s lap tracking abilities against a human counter.

Luckily for Andrew, who undertook the challenge, human and Shine scores matched perfectly – although he would have taken the higher score had they diverged!

The finished article

Now a year on, I’ve got my hands on the finished product, the Misfit Shine Swimmer’s Edition, powered by Speedo.

It comes in at a price towards the budget end of wearable fitness technology, but it does look fairly stylish and I understand you can get a variety of accessories like a leather wristband that fit in with your lifestyle.

It is comfortable to wear and to sleep in. The app set up was very easy on my iPhone. With regards to the swimming, it accurately tracks laps on all four strokes be it kick, pull, drill or full stroke and in different length pools.

I was very impressed with its accuracy and also relieved my 400IMs hadn’t been in vain – I just hope swimmers appreciate my suffering on their behalf!

Room for improvement

If you’re a swimmer who’s obsessed with the laps and distance you do in each session it certainly does the job.

However I hope that Misfit/Speedo will be looking at updating the Shine to calculate weekly and monthly totals and perhaps look at things such as distance per stroke, which should be feasible.

The Shine also tracks quality of sleep, walking, cycling and running but I’d like to see it be able to measure gym workout as many swimmers include these as part of their training.

Team scores

Concept

Pros: Great for swimmers who need extra motivation or don’t have a coach – or those obsessed with sharing on Strava.
Cons: Many swimmers already count and record their sessions in logbooks with their coach.

3 / 5

Accuracy

Pros: Tracks and records distance very accurately on all four swimming strokes plus pull, kick and drill.
Cons: Doesn’t seem to track weight-lifting or gym workouts very well.

4 / 5

App and usability

Pros: Easy to sync; easy to read the data.
Cons: Doesn’t seem to add up monthly swimming distance.

3 / 5

Style and comfort

Pros: Sleek, elegant, futuristic design.
Cons: Could do with more strap options to match with different outfits.

3 / 5

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