Steve Harad––he of Steve's Multisport in former times––called me several weeks back and announced that Endless Pools intended to advertise on Slowtwitch. As is always the case in these situations, I informed him that we had to have The Talk.

I gave him the short list of companies who'd called us, just like he did, and who'd subsequently decided not to advertise after we'd had The Talk with them. It isn't that we're not greedy, and it isn't that we're not capable of low, immoral, and depraved behavior. It's just that when it comes to technical product, we find it very hard not to tell the truth. If we think your product sucks, we just don't have the willpower to can't keep such opinions a secret.

In almost all cases, such prospective advertisers go away. In one case a company decided to advertise anyway. Profile Design wanted to do a deal with us and I said, "Look, I'm very happy to take your money, and your forks are cool, but your handlebars suck."

"Fair enough," they said, "But we want to advertise anyway." Brave of them, I thought, and you'll find their ads on our Coach's Corner, and on our Kona 2000 coverage.

Some time later the Profile Design folks asked, "How long has it been, by the way, since you've tried our bars?"

"I gave up on you guys about 5 years ago," I replied.

"How about giving us another shot," they asked, "no harm no foul if you still think they suck. We'll still stick with Slowtwitch regardless."

So I did give their bars another try, and I found them mightily improved, and said so in our review of the Carbon X. I did find some fault with Profile's bars––things upon which I'd improve if it were my company––but I find fault with everybody's bars: Syntace, Vision Tech, everybody.

So anyway, I had my talk with Steve Harad, and he said, "Why don't you just shut up and go swim the damn thing." So I did.

You can't predict what it's going to be like to swim in an Endless Pool. Well, you can predict the feeling, more or less, but not the entire range of sensations. The first thing I noticed about the pool that I swam in, for example, was a mirror on the bottom. For the first time I could actually see my own stroke at work. Forget the underwater camera. This not only replaces the camera, it's real time, so I can make changes to my stroke and immediately experience the results.

The one big overarching difference about this versus a standard pool is that everything occurs against the backdrop of time and pace, not of distance. In a standard pool I'll swim, let us say, ten times 100 meters, and repeat them on, say, 1:30. Not in an Endless Pool. What's 100 meters? There is no way to know. There's no flow meter. There's just a pressure gauge. You determine the flow rate via turning up the juice on the pump––to a rate of 600psi, or 900psi, whatever. If you wanted to swim intervals, then, you might just swim for eighty seconds, let us say, and go again on the 1:30. As is the case with a regular pool, there's nothing stopping you from putting a pool clock next to an Endless Pool, and if I owned one that's the first thing I'd do.

Back to my standard pool analogy, if I was doing 100 meter repeats, I'd apportion my effort during the 100 meters however I thought proper. In reality, I suppose I swim particularly fast in the first 25 meters, and I say this because when you start swimming in an Endless Pool you find it very easy, and then it gets much tougher as the minutes roll by. You quickly learn that you can't swim via perceived exertion in this thing, you're forced to swim a constant pace. If I was to swim a straight 500 meters in a standard pool I'd get feedback every 50 yards or 100 meters, depending on the pool and its lane configuration, because that's the interval in which I'd get to once again see the clock. In the Endless Pool if your pace starts to fall, it's quickly apparent.

You don't have to stop the pool when you rest. Sitting or standing in an Endless Pool between swim sessions is like being in a spa. Lots of water rushing around you, but you're not getting sucked or moved around. When you want to swim again, you just start swimming.

It's plenty big enough. It's quite wide, and I understand that there are actually two-person models, with side by side propulsion units that can be set at different speeds, so the husband can swim alongside his wife even though he can't normally go as fast. As for length, there's several feet fore and aft of you, so if you slow down or speed up you've got some room before you bump up against anything.

How fast will this pool go? The max pressure on the 5-year-old Endless Pool in which I swam was 1500psi. The fellow that kindly showed me his pool––John Goode of Pacific Beach––had it cranked to 1400psi and I was still able to keep pace. A good swimmer could outsprint this pool. But were I to do an entire workout at 1400psi my workout wouldn't last very long. Endless Pools says that its "propulsion system will generate a current which will produce a 68-second, 100-yard swim for the swimmer who can keep up with the current."

The water was about as turbulent as I expected. It wasn't bad. Very swimmable. About like swimming in a pace line through a calm lake. What would be especially nice is to have the water be as calm as being the lead swimmer in a calm lake. Not quite so in an Endless Pool. But it's calmer than swimming in the ocean on most days, and, really, the reason I'm using open water parallels is that swimming in an Endless Pool is more akin to open water swimming than pool swimming. I say this both because of the relative calmness/turbulence of the water, and the fact that you just keep going––no flip turns, no wall.

I said a bit further up that there is no flow meter on an Endless Pool. I should say that there was no flow meter on the one which I tried. Endless Pool does offer one. Its Digital Swim Meter "is designed to provide serious swimmers a means of measuring distance swum in meters or miles, speed or pace in meters per second or miles per hour, and the total distance traveled in 25 or 50 meter lap lengths."

Let's say you decide to get one of these. They come in a variety of depths, up to six feet. I demo'd a fairly deep pool. I'd get a deep one, myself, because I and my wife both find the need for water therapy from time to time––running in the pool without touching the bottom, like, with an AquaJogger or similar device.

The pool has a filtration system and a heater (pictured at left), just like any pool, and of course its propulsion unit. It's therefore got a pair of electric motors, a smaller one for the filtration pump, and a larger one––about 5hp––for the propulsion system. It requires 220v, and I'm guessing perhaps a 30 amp breaker. Maybe a little larger. An electrician, or a handyman triathlete, could add this to your panel in about an hour.

Then there's the heater (the thing on the lower right-hand side of the photo). The one for the Endless Pool I visited worked on gas, and although I don't know I'd guess that either natural gas or propane would work as a fuel source. The pool had a retractable cover, and the owner said he (automatically) ran the filter and the heater for two hours twice a day. I'm guessing you ought to expect your energy bill––assuming you've not currently got a pool or a spa, or anything that sucks a lot of juice––to go up by 50%. Your gas bill will take much less of a hit than if you had a full-sized pool, but your electric bill will jump a bit by virtue of running that mambo 5hp electric pump.

Kenny Glah and Jan Wanklyn have one of these pools. They've got a StarTrac treadmill and a Computrainer as well. All down in their basement. They can do an Ironman down there. Longtime triathletes hate racing Glah in the early season. He emerges from his stealth basement like an axe murderer––not having been seen by any living soul (save his family) for three months––fit as a fiddle and ornery from cabin fever. "He does so much training down in that basement," says Tinley, "you could mine salt down there." I mention this only because it ought not be assumed that stationary training is second-class training. Boring, perhaps, but not substandard.

One thing about an Endless Pool: As opposed to swimming or cycling it's probably not appreciably more or less boring than its "real world" analog. Let's face it, whether you're swimming in a standard pool or an Endless Pool, there's not a lot to look at down there. At least in an Endless Pool you can look at your stroke if you want.

An Endless Pool is not cheap. It'll cost you two Litespeeds, a Cervelo, and a pair of Hed3s. Offsetting that, this company does have a very interesting deal for selected owners. If you're geographically strategically placed––and if, you know, you're not an asshole or anything––and if you'll allow your pool to be used as part of Endless Pool's demo program, they'll cut you a $500 check for every Endless Pool they sell to those who've demo'd your pool. This is tailor-made for triathletes. Imagine getting one of these and having all your tri club members over to give it a whirl. There's serious cash to be made here. (You're responsible for the chips and dip).

Endless Pools sells consumer-direct, and its website can be found here, and you may call Endless Pools at 800-732-8660.