Advances in sports technology have a way of exciting me because of the claims of these technologies to enhance performance in sports. Think cybernetic upgrades only less science fiction and more product innovation.

One innovation that is being touted to increase a swimmer’s performance is the Powerbreather, an apparatus that can help swimmers breathe.

This product of German ingenuity claims that it is offering people the future in the sport of swimming. The apparatus wraps around the swimmer’s head. Located at the top of where your head is, is an air valve. With the valve, you won’t have to turn your head to breathe air. In fact, you won’t even need to surface to catch that important intake of oxygen. You can be entirely submerged the whole time and you can continue breathing. Think of it as a high tech snorkel that eliminates that tube that dangles out of one side of your head. The Powerbreather has a special design that also allows you to remove spent air but just breathing through the same mouthpiece, and you can do this without the fear of allowing water into the device.

The Powerbreather has a lot of obvious benefits. For one, it can be a great training tool for swimmers as they can just focus on their strokes and rhythm without having to worry too much about head turning and breathing air. It’s also a great device for people who swim as an exercise because they can also just focus on their strokes as they do their paces in the lap pool.

The Powerbreather does look like it’s a definite advancement in the sport of swimming but I don’t see it being used in actual competitions because of its obvious performance advantages.