Avida Sports introduces breakthrough technology that will revolutionize training in sports

Coaches have always been hamstrung when trying to communicate with their swimmers.

"They've never been able to talk to the swimmer as they're swimming," said Bruce Burton, president of Avida Sports. "They always have to wait until the end of the length to start giving them instruction, unless they're in lane one or lane eight."

From the modest offices of Avida Sports in Harper Woods comes a technological innovation that will revolutionize training.

"Each device that a swimmer's wearing is basically a computer," said Scott Hedges, vice president of operations for Avida Sports. "It's calculating all this data, and it knows when they're pushing off the wall. It knows when they're taking strokes. It knows when they're doing certain expected behaviors that a swimmer goes through during the course of a practice."

It's called Avida Metrics. Swimmers place a sensor on each wrist and another under their swim cap.

"The whole concept of athletic telemetry is that you get instant feedback on your performance," said Burton. "And that feedback is shared between you and a coach."

The sensors track stroke count, speed, acceleration and much more.

Meanwhile, the coaching staff is equipped with notebook sized computers that gather and sort the information as it is being transmitted from the sensors.

The girls team at Cranbrook-Kingswood High School is the first squad in the world to use the Avida Metrics system in-season. It was tested this summer by the University of Michigan, the same school that's won 11 national championships and proudly boasts as one of its own the greatest swimmer of all-time, Michael Phelps.

The University of Michigan has always been forward thinking when it comes to introducing new technology to the sport of swimming, and the Avida system fits the bill. Ultimately, if makes the swimmers faster and more championship banners will hang in the natatorium, the Wolverines want in.

"What we try to do and what we're trying to accomplish at Michigan is to be on the leading edge of technology," said Michigan men's swimming coach Mike Bottom.

"In racing, they touch that big pad at the end of the pool and it gives them their time," said Burton. "That was first developed at the University of Michigan, so it was a natural that a school like that would embrace it."

"We're going to know exactly how many strokes they're taking per lap," said Bottom. "We're going to know when they accelerate and what they're doing when they accelerate, and then I'm going to be able to communicate that to the athletes as their coach."

And why wait until the lap is complete? Swimmer and coach are now connected by an earbud attached to the swim cap sensor.

The communication system works two ways. The computer can transmit audio feedback automatically.

"After our first length, we flip and we come up and the little earbud that we have in our ear tells us two things," said Kaitlyn Fries, a senior captain on the Cranbrook-Kingswood team. "Normally it's stroke count and speed per lap. We hear that every length so we can try to either make it consistent or decrease our time or stroke count of whatever we're supposed to be working on within that set."

The coach can also speak to the swimmer directly while he or she is swimming, directing them to change strokes or make adjustments to their technique.

"I think the real time feedback is the most beneficial part of the system," said Tony Kurth, head coach of the girls swim team at Cranbrook-Kingswood. "Being able to talk to them, there's nothing out there like that."

"Swimmers can make immediately changes," said Bottom. "If they have immediate feedback and making changes, making changes and immediate feedback, they get better."

In a sport famous for minimization - shaving, tapering, always figuring out ways to cut time - aren't these sensors cumbersome?

"I believe they only weigh about an ounce," said Kurth. "So it's like wearing a watch."

A watch that will transform the way athletes train around the world.

"It's a lot for people to absorb," said Hedges. "That's one of the biggest pushbacks right now. What do I do with all this? I'm just not used to it. How do I work it? How do I incorporate it all? But it's inevitable that it's gonna happen."

"Once it spreads it will definitely be a really good device and a really good program that everyone will want to use," said Fries.

"This is just the beginning," said Bottom. "I think that what we're going to see in the future, especially in swimming, is going to amaze a lot of people. This is the very cutting edge."