🤬 It’s Really Not That Hard!

3 Quick Tips on How to Use the FINIS Tempo Trainer PRO and Why It Makes Sense for Your Swimming!

Hey Swimmers,

Let’s start with a confession I hear all the time.

“I bought a Tempo Trainer… but I’ve never actually used it.”

More often than not, it’s still sitting unopened in a kit bag. The reason? A quiet fear that it’s somehow complicated or too technical.

Here’s the reality.

This little yellow gadget has been around for well over 20 years. It predates the iPhone by about five years and, crucially, it’s barely changed since. If you can use your phone, you are more than capable of using this.

It has three buttons. Two adjust numbers up and down.

Hold them together and it turns off. Hold one to turn it on again. The third button switches between modes or restarts the beep.

That’s it. No menus. No syncing. No confusion. It’s a piece of cake - but why do so many people leave it hanging around - unopened - in their kit bag?

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Why Swimming Needs More Objectivity

Think about how you train on the bike or run if you’re a triathlete.

You likely use a power meter, GPS watch, or heart rate monitor. These give you real-time feedback. You know exactly how hard you’re working and whether you’re hitting your targets. You can see the data right in front of your eyes.

Now compare that to swimming.

Most swimmers are still guided by terms like “easy,” “moderate,” or “hard.” Or perhaps “around 75% effort.” But what does that actually mean? And more importantly, how repeatable is it?

Your watch, whether it’s Garmin or Apple, only tells you what you did after the interval. It’s retrospective. It doesn’t guide you in the moment. Some newer goggles of course give you this information, but many report they feel too “in your face”.

That’s where the Tempo Trainer becomes so powerful.

It brings real-time objectivity into your swimming. It turns vague effort into precise execution. And it adds a layer of engagement that makes sessions more purposeful and, quite frankly, more enjoyable. Sticking with a pre-determined pace, or aiming to “beat the beeper” becomes a really gamified - but productive - way of swimming.

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The Three Modes Made Simple

The Tempo Trainer has three modes, each offering a different way to guide your swimming, whatever your Swim Type (refer to the link below if you’re one of our new subscribers and haven’t read too much about Swim Types):

Mode 3 – Stroke Rate
This is all about rhythm and timing. The beeper sets your stroke rate, helping you develop consistency and control. It’s particularly useful for refining technique and avoiding common timing errors that creep in under fatigue. Because it is not ‘intelligent’ every beep at a set stroke rate is exactly the same amount of time apart from the last beep, i.e. at 60spm (strokes per minute) the beeper is beeping every 1.00 seconds. Many swimmers - Bambinos and Overgliders primarily - have distinct timing issues which the Tempo Trainer is brilliant at helping the swimmer refine:

• Bambinos - will drop their lead arm when breathing which sees the stroke accelerate at this point and the swimmer will suddenly be out of sync with the beeper. This is crucial as fixing that lead arm drop is the key to the Bambino feeling more comfortable with their breathing.

• Overgliders - will typically have a slow stroke rate, but as we’ve been at pains to point out over the years, the secret to massive improvements for Overgliders is not to just elevate the stroke rate with the beeper (that would be like putting the “cart before the horse”), but to work out why the stroke is slow in the first place. And so - almost opposite to the Bambino - we see one of the arms staying stationary too long out in front of the head which disrupts the rhythm and also reduces the overall rate too.

Mode 2 – Cycle Time
Think of this like traditional squad training, but personalised. Instead of relying on the pool clock, the beeper tells you exactly when to push off for each interval. You swim, rest, and go again on a precise cycle without ever needing to look at a clock. You don’t have to round your send off times up or down for the convenience of the pool clock, using the formula:

(CSS pace per 100m / 2) + X seconds = your RM Cycle, i.e. +5 seconds = RM5

…you can create graded cycle times accurate to 1 second where all you need to do is “beat the beeper” or “swim for your rest”.

This mode / method is particularly enjoyed by the Swingers and Smooths of the world who’ve often grown up following the black-line and are familiar with the vernacular of cycle times. But again, why use it over the pool clock? For precision grading of your cycle times specific to your current ability level (and that’s likely not what it was 20 years ago!).

Mode 1 – Exact Pace
This is where things become incredibly precise. You can set an exact time per length, right down to fractions of a second. It allows you to hold a specific pace with accuracy that’s simply not possible using a clock or watch alone.

This mode is particularly beneficial for Arnies who tend to have a real problem with pacing and for Kicktastics who like something to make longer ‘boring’ sets more engaging.

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From Guesswork to Precision

If you feel like your swimming has plateaued, this is often why.

Training by feel alone introduces too much variability. Some days “moderate” becomes easy. Other days it becomes too hard. Over time, progress stalls because the stimulus isn’t consistent.

In cycling and running, this level of guesswork has largely disappeared. Athletes train with clarity and precision, and the results speak for themselves.

Swimming, in many cases, hasn’t caught up.

But it can.

With a simple tool like the Tempo Trainer, you can bring that same level of structure and feedback into every session. You can pace accurately, control your effort, and even gamify your training by trying to “beat the beep.”

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Keep It Simple This Weekend

I’ve added four short videos to accompany this guide above, each around 30 seconds long, showing you exactly how to turn the unit on, adjust it, and use each mode.

If you already own a Tempo Trainer, set aside a little time this weekend. Watch the videos, follow along, and try a simple session using the three modes.

It doesn’t take long to get the hang of it.

And once you do, you’ll wonder why it sat in your bag for so long.

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A Small Device, A Big Shift

This isn’t about adding complexity to your swimming. It’s about removing guesswork.

A small, simple device can transform how you train, making your sessions more objective, more engaging, and ultimately more effective.

It’s a cornerstone of how we coach within the Swim Smooth GURU and across our global network of coaches.

Give it a go.

You might just find it’s the missing piece you’ve been looking for.

Have a great Easter, your coach, Paul.