By Kerry O'Brien

Underwater Video Cameras

Today's underwater video products produce sharp, clear images that make it easy to view stroke technique.

Years ago, in my tenderfoot days of Masters coaching, one of the members of our team was very excited over the underwater housing he had just purchased for his Super-8 movie camera. He was more of a "dive-nut" than a swimmer, but he was a generous one.

He offered to film our swimmers in our deep pool. So, on the next Saturday morning, there stood Frank in complete scuba gear—wetsuit and all! Though the water was 83 degrees, Frank explained that even warm water feels cold when you're sedentary for three hours.

How primitive that all seems by today's standards! Many of you reading this article may not even have any idea what Super-8 is (was). Fortunately, with the technological advances of the last two decades, there are many state-of-the-art video systems available. All of the systems described in this article are excellent—each with its own niche. Which underwater video system is right for you?

Coach Scope
In 1983, at the ASCA World Coaching Clinic in Las Vegas, I was exposed to the first underwater filming breakthrough—the Coach Scope—developed by Albert Stevens of Delphis Swim Products. The Coach Scope has gone through 15 years of change and development, and the latest model, the 2000, is now "digital-ready," awaiting only a reduction in prices in digital cameras.

The periscope design of the Coach Scope allows for below-surface viewing and videotaping from an above-surface vantage point. Through the years, redesigns have led to the 2000, a smaller and more manageable unit that sits on a rotating base to allow for a certain amount of tracking of the swimmer. The Coach Scope is also designed to provide split-screen viewing above and below the water. The small palmcorders and new digital cameras are recommended for best results.

Snooper
Available since 1994, the Snooper was invented by Marty Hull, who also invented Zoomers fins. The first "camera-on-a-stick," the Snooper is a lightweight lens sealed in a watertight housing and attached to a telescoping pole. It is easily connected to your existing camcorder.

The first available editions offered the options of black-and-white or color lenses. The black-and-white lenses were recommended for low-light situations (early morning and evening), but technical advancements have improved the resolution of the color lenses to make the black-and-white obsolete.

Its simple, lightweight design makes it very easy to remove from one lane and drop into another lane without interrupting the swimmer's workout. The telescoping ability of the pole itself provides a broad viewing of two to three lanes at a time. In addition, viewing up at a swimmer from a depth of four to six feet can give a relational perspective of both arms and legs that might otherwise be missed if viewing from a parallel plane.

The new camcorders with the flip-out viewing screen have added to the convenience of such a system because you are no longer limited to a small viewfinder.

AquaCam
Like the Snooper, the AquaCam is designed as a "camera on a stick." Its swivel head allows for shooting at any angle and for easy tracking. The cameras used in the system are high resolution, allowing the viewer to see stroke details that might otherwise be missed: 420 lines of resolution in the black-and-white model, 480 in the color.

Most important, says the manufacturer, the device is "idiot-proof."

"It involves the fewest steps and the shortest time to get taping underway when compared with other underwater video systems." Coaches who have used the AquaCam, including Australia's Forbes Carlile, say that this is its most attractive feature.

Watercam
The Watercam Underwater Video System, produced by Watermark, has been used by competitive swim coaches since 1995. This product was designed specifically for swim coaches who need high quality video of their swimmers from any angle above or below the water.

With Watercam, this is achieved through the use of accessories that place the palm-sized camera head anywhere in or about the pool. A coach can even obtain a view from beneath his or her swimmers by placing the camera head on the Watercam Pool Mount, which can be placed on the pool floor.

Valerie Stahl, head coach of the Moriah School District in Port Henry, N.Y., who purchased the product in September 1996, is enthusiastic: "I no longer lose close observation of the middle lanes. It's like having another coach on deck."

The Watercam is available in color or black-and-white. Included in the system package is one camera head, the dual-use mount and the telescoping pole.

Splash-Cam
The Splash-Cam was first used by swim coaches via an unusually circuitous route. Ocean Systems, an 11-year-old corporation based in Everett, Wash., had been designing and building electronic fish-finding equipment for commercial fisheries around the world for years. Asked by customers to develop a rugged, underwater video system for such mundane pursuits as fishing, security, salvaging, dock, tank and hull inspections, the manufacturer came up with the Splash-Cam.

Word of the new product got out, and it quickly was adopted by several local swim teams for underwater videotaping. One coach who uses the Splash-Cam is Mike Bemis of the Thunderbird Aquatic Center in Anacortes, Wash. He says the Splash-Cam, which runs on 12 volts DC, has "helped my team see what they look like" underwater. "The system is easy-to-operate, very portable and shows all six lanes in our pool at once. The pictures are great, clear and very enlightening..."

Like the other video systems discussed here, it delivers a video signal to any TV monitor, camcorder or VCR.

Bemis also addresses a practical concern for any age group coach: "The camera is rugged enough to withstand most 12-year-old boys, yet easy enough that they can also operate the equipment."

Power Cam
Coach Sam Van Cura wanted an underwater video system that could view the swimmer from any angle, move at the speed of the swimmer and produce clear, steady video. "Watching swimmers through underwater windows showed me that seeing the relative position of the hand and elbow could only be captured by a moving camera."

Thus, in 1997, he came up with the Power Cam.

The mobile underwater camera is mounted on a cart, which the coach pushes along the deck as the swimmer swims up and down the pool. The cart contains the recording device (camcorder or VCR), camera and a microphone. The coach can record comments as the swimmer is swimming, or the comments can be added later.

At 2-3/4" x 4", the Power Cam is easily the smallest underwater camera today. The cart can be customized for the type of deck on which it will be used. Since the pole camera is detachable from the cart, it can be used like any other pole camera. It is also the only moveable system for sale and, at $850, the least expensive.

Swim Trac
Mike O'Brien's Swim Trac system is an all-inclusive service, in which Mike comes to your pool and videotapes your swimmers for a per-person fee. This can be a very attractive selling point to a coach with a large group and time constraints.

Two underwater cameras are mounted below the water to provide both side and head-on views. A small track is assembled on the deck, and a push cart equipped with a viewing monitor rides along the track. As the swimmer travels back and forth in the lane, the cameras move with the swimmer and the images are recorded on individual tapes, which the Swim Trac service provides. Each stroke is virtually seen at arm's length.

In addition to handling all of the videotaping duties, Olympic champion O'Brien also provides the option of stroke analysis with voice-overs and the use of his "Telestrator," a system that allows him to embellish the image with visual tips and corrections which can be drawn over the video-imaging (just like the play-by-play analysis of football as seen on TV). Current plans also include an above-surface camera and split-screen capabilities.

This system has played an important part in the Walnut Creek (Calif.) Intensive Training Camp, which has gained national recognition over the past four years.

Sparta 2000
The Sparta 2000 System, manufactured by a Canadian company, Sports Performance Technology (SPT), combines the benefits of underwater video with the biomechanical feedback of another SPT product, the Sparta Speedtrainer, which measures the forward velocity of the swimmer in real-time.

Combining sophisticated electronics with video technology, the system renders the components of the swimmer's stroke technique visible, recordable and quantifiable, producing both a video and a graph of the swimmer's forward velocity. The combination of these elements should make it easier for coaches to identify errors in technique.

The Sparta 2000 System can be used as a biomechanical feedback system by a swim club, or it can be used to generate revenue through providing testing and evaluation services for a fee. At $23,400, the Sparta 2000 System includes the Sparta Speedtrainer, a laptop computer and the entire video system.

All of these products have warranties, ranging from one to three years, and almost all have been designed by coaches or swimmers—individuals fully aware of and sensitive to the needs of the on-deck coach.

Any coach would be hard-pressed not to acknowledge the importance that underwater videos can play in the technical refinement of stroke mechanics. Having your swimmers see what you have been telling them (1) validates your findings as a coach and (2) allows them to process stroke information with visual retention and auditory instruction. This combination heightens the range of improvement.

"Tell me, and I will listen. Show me, and I will understand."

About the Author
Kerry O'Brien is the head coach of the Walnut Creek Masters Swim Team in Walnut Creek, Calif. He was USMS Coach of the Year in 1986 and the Pacific Masters Coach of the Year in 1989.