Swim Buoys: A Must-Wear for Open Water Swimming

It’s bright. It’s floaty. And yeah, on windy days it can be a pain in the ass, but STILL…all open water swimmers should be using a swim buoy aka tow float (as they say in the UK).

For nearly six years I’ve been swimming with a New Wave Swim Buoy. In that time I’ve tried different styles and colors. The company has evolved its offering to many varieties: 15l or 20l, bubble or bag-type which is handy for stashing a Go Pro, or an encased phone (which the company also makes—waterproof cases), etc. A couple swims I’ve even tucked in a sundress, cash and light flip flops for a long point-to-point swim when upon exiting, I just dressed and got coffee to warm up.

Some swimmers feel bound or constricted wearing a buoy, but it’s really nothing at all. If you have good form there is no reason you cannot wear one and swim seamlessly. Play with the strap lengths; it works.

Why have one?

·     Visibility in places where there are (errant) boaters zipping around. Like lakes, or near marinas. Because nobody wants to be run over.
·         Selfishly, to track your fellow swimmers! I don’t care if I’ve swum the same spot hundreds of times. I want to know where everyone is at all times. When you swim at different paces over long distances, these bright little beacons are fantastic to spot even hundreds of yards away.
·         Superstitiously, I think since we are so often in wetsuits, we look like seals. Having this neon plastic appendage I feel wards off pinnipeds and other creatures out there to stay back—or at least not associate us immediately as fellow pinnipeds. That’s just me!
·         They light up great with a little LED bulb or flashlight tucked into the bag for pre-sunrise or night swims. I don’t night swim but I do a few before-the-light swims…as few as possible, ha!
·         This is grim but serious on the above topic of visibility: rescue and/or recovery. A swim friend who did a marathon swim no sooner crossed a finish line, had a heart attack and perished in a swift river. The event did not mandate swim buoys. His body was eventually found not far from the finish area but almost two days later. Imagine if he had a float; it’s possible he would have been found and his life might have even been saved.

Even though I’m still working on a few swim buddies to cross over and be perennial buoy-bearers, on longer swims I have seen more friends “clip in” and it makes me happy. I personally feel safer knowing I can see them, swim to them if needed and that they are being seen, too.  Best $35 you’ll spend!