Swimmers front-end snorkel

Front-end snorkel for swimming (train) and monofin training and competition

(Silicone mouthpiece, valve and strap)

Recommended and used by the world's top coaches and swimmers

Eamon Sullivan - 2008

Dara Torres - 2008 Olympics

Grant Hackett - 2006

Many of the world's fastest swimmers use a front-end snorkel every day in practice. Its benefits range from this top swimmers to people still struggling with their technique, allowing one to develop and enjoy the benefits of swimming with battleship stability.

The swimmer can concentrate on body balance, stroke technique and head position, freed up from the breathing cycle rotation, gliding trough the water without worrying about turning to breathe.

The addition of the front-end snorkel into the swimmers training will leads to an improved and uniform stroke. Swimming with the snorkel also forces the lungs to work harder, increasing aerobic conditioning (can also increase VO2 max and CO2 tolerance).

This is quality swim gear. Unlike a 'common' side-mount snorkel it won't push your head to the side while swimming, the tube is actually designed to act like a vertical fin enhancing your balance and helping you find and acquire the streamlined position. Regular swim google can be worn with the snorkel

How to get started

• get familiar with swimming and breathing through the snorkel
• incorporate the snorkel into every warm up and warm down sessions
• breath naturally, but inhale and exhale powerfully
• exhale mainly through your nose (to avoid water going up the nose)
• If water gets in the snorkel, blow hard to clear it

Take time and be persistent in adapting to the swimmers front-end snorkel, there's a learning curve to using it with strong benefits to be gained by the committed swimmer. The snorkel can be used at all times or for specific sets. As the lungs develop, longer sets will become easier.

Video on use and benefits of a similar Finis snorkel

More drills with the swimmers front-end snorkel

• vídeos and snorkel drills by goswim
• snorkel drills by Mike Bottom 
• snorkel drills by Mat Beck

Flip turn and out of the wall

The flip turn can be performed with the snorkel, water will unavoidably get, but this is easily cleared by blowing out hard once you get to the surface (the incorporated one way purge valve also allows underwater clearing). Blowing hard to clear the front-end snorkel is actually an excellent breathing exercise, increasing the capacity of the lungs to expel air, required for optimal oxygen intake. Out of the wall incorrect streamlining will be denounced by snorkel rotating or wiggle. A nose clip may be necessary in the beginning.

Kick sets and body positioning - the right tool for the job

While the first equipment that pops up on a swimmers mind for a kick set is a kickboard, a swimmers snorkel is actually the best thing to use, allowing the swimmer to maintain perfect head, neck, and shoulders alignment.
For body position drills this is also the equipment of choice to help a swimmers find and acquire his/her streamlined position, most swimmers can't get this perfect line if they have to struggle with the unbalance generated by moving their 2.5Kg head in order to breath.

Recommended by the world's top coaches

Mike Bottom, Head Coach of World Sprint Team and Co-Head Coach at UC Berkeley, uses the Swimmer's Snorkel with all his top sprinters and estimates they use the snorkel during practice 25-30% of the time, every day. 

[…Practicing drills by using a front-end snorkel can help enhance body balance and hip/hand timing…]
[…We use the front-end snorkel every day in every workout…]

[…In my opinion, the timing of the breath and twisting of the body while taking a breath is both distracting and disruptive when learning proper body balance and hip/hand timing. By using the front-mount snorkel during specific drills, the swimmer is free to focus on specific rehearsal points…] 

Richard Quick, Head Coach, Stanford Women's Swimming / Head Coach 1996, 2000 USA Women's Olympic Swim Team
[…The Swimmer's Snorkel allows the swimmer concentrate on body balance, rotation and alignment by eliminating the complicated breathing motion…] 

Dr. Dave Salo, Head Swim Coach, Irvine Novaquatics /2003 USA Coach, WorldChampionship Team
[…The Swimmer's Snorkel is required swim equipment within all our swimmer's gear bags…]