Frequently left out to dry, Chris Moisan and dedicated swimmers across the globe may soon have a new tool to combat an age-old setback.
“We’ve all been tracking our runs and our rides for so long and swimming has always been missed off our calorie counts, it’s been missed off our aggregate fitness activity,” said Moisan, CEO of Active In Time. “We’re not getting a complete picture of our health and our fitness.”
Moisan, along with a troop of five colleagues, have had enough and are eager to make swimmers first class citizens in the fitness world. For the past six years, the competitive group of swim enthusiasts and app developers has been perfecting an algorithm that can be programmed into wearable wrist devices, such as the Pebble Watch, in order to track lap counts as well as time spent logging minutes in the water.
Taking advantage of one of the latest technological gismos out on the market, Moisan and his team have now transferred their undivided attention to the Apple Watch.
“We’ve always felt, as swimmers, that technology has a much bigger part to play than a manual check in post swim,” said Moisan. “That was really where the Pebble was the first application, the first hardware, we added too and the Apple Watch was obviously something we really want to develop on.”
That they have. Since the introduction of Apple’s latest innovation, the team has been tweaking their algorithm and working with the iOS programming to create a dynamic application that can put swimmers on the same level as runners and cyclists when it comes to tracking fitness levels and workout routines.
“Lap counting is just one aspect,” said Moisan. “We’d like to develop that user experience much further for swimmers so it could be about providing sets, it could be providing feedback during your swim.”
Furthermore, the application will also allow swimmers to keep track of their heart rate as well as store workout routines on the device for future reference.
However, the waiting game continues. Moisan and his team tested their new and improved algorithm on a modified waterproof Apple Watch. The retail Apple Watch currently on store shelves now is not waterproof.
“We are doing all we can to encourage Apple to make the next watch officially waterproof,” said Moisan.
In the mean time, the crew will continue to refine their product and market their application to the general public, all in efforts to build the excitement for a potential release date.
“Hopefully by using products like what we’re making you can get that full picture,” said Moisan. “You can motivate yourself to be more active, to do more, and to get more out of swimming. That’s really what we see technologies doing.”