Hi, my name’s Emma and I’ve been involved in swimming for about 15 years. I was a swimmer from the word go and started swimming competitively at about 8 years old – I have been hooked since then! A few years ago I started coaching swimming and am a qualified teacher and teach every week with some amazing kids. Now I work here at Simply Swim and wanted to share with you my favourite swimming equipment and what my essentials are in my swimming kit bag!
The obvious pieces are the swimming costume, hat and goggles.
Speedo Endurance Plus Sprintrate Leaderback
My favourite swimming costume at the moment is the Speedo Endurance Plus Sprintrate Leaderback as it’s bright in the phantom purple colour and is 100% chlorine resistant (so will last about 20 times longer than a traditional fabric in the pool!). For guys, I doubt you’d have the swimming costume in there but there are a fantastic selection of jammers and trunks to choose from.
I always have a silicone cap (or two!) in my kit bag as they are so comfortable to wear and are really long lasting. I couldn’t pick a favourite as there are so many colours and patterns to choose from at Simply Swim!
My favourite swimming goggles for racing are the Speedo Speedsocket Mirror Goggles as I like being able to get in the zone before a big race, no one can see your eyes and the double head strap keeps them in place for the dive. For training I use the Speedo Futura BioFUSE . They are so comfortable to wear for a hours in the pool and have an anti-fog lens too so you have clear vision underwater with no annoying fog!
Zoggs Silicone Blue-Finz
My training essentials that I always carry are my fins, hand paddles and a pull buoy. I really like using the Zoggs Silicone Blue-Finz whilst training as they are really comfortable and fit really well. They are light in my bag so don’t make my bag really heavy with everything else!
When working my upper body I put my Speedo BioFUSE Finger Paddle on. They give really good resistance whilst I swim but the shape makes them surprisingly comfortable and give me a great grip on the water.
The Head Pullbuoy is one of my favourites to use as the foam doesn’t soak up the water and it’s lightweight in my bag.
I always have a water bottle handy for when I’m training. You under-estimate how much exercise you do whilst swimming so I use the Maru Drink Bottle . It’s red colour matches my bag and I can see how much drink I have left and when I need to go and refill.
When getting out the pool the first thing I grab is my towel. I use the Zoggs Koolan Towel at the moment as it’s really soft against the skin and dries quickly after I have used it.
Of course one important part of the swimming equipment is the bag! You need something to hold all your important swimming equipment in! My bag of choice is the TYR Alliance Team Duffel II . It is easy to spot on poolside amongst the hundreds of other swim bags as it has a bright red colour and is big enough to hold all my swimming kit in.