Take a Guided Tour of Melissa's Pain Cave

Watch this video and see why she loves her High Performance Pool.

When you share on social media that you took a long swim in a crowded garage, you should expect some questions! That's what triathlete, fitness coach, and mother-of-three Melissa Kinmartin found out. She recently went live on Instagram for a brief but thorough look at her Endless Pools® High Performance pool.

As Melissa told us for a previous article on this blog, all five members of the Kinmartin family use the High Performance pool in their "pain cave." Mostly, they train for competitive swimming, in open water and in traditional pools. Melissa also credits her aquatic exercise routine with helping her emerge from post-partum depression.

Take the Tour

In this video, Melissa reviews the basic operations of her Endless Pool. As an open water swimmer, she appreciates that the pool's swim current eliminates flip turns. "It’s a continuous swim, which is awesome," she enthuses.

Melissa competed at the 2017 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships where the triathletes swim against strong currents in the Tennessee River. "This was my ticket!" she says of her Endless Pool. "All I did was swim in here against this current, and it really strengthens your upper body and makes you a stronger swimmer because you're consistently swimming against current."

In addition to the temperature control, which comes standard with every Endless Pool, she details some of the options that she and her husband selected. The Digital Pace Display translates the swim current's speed into time per 100 yards or meters. She also uses the FINIS underwater MP3 player for motivating music and our Underwater Mirrors for real-time stroke correction.

"This is probably one of the best investments that we've made" as working parents and triathletes, she finds. "It saves me tons of time with driving and trying to get to a pool and find a lane … I end up being at the pool forever. I like to jump in, get it done, and I'm on my way." The family's Endless Pool in the garage makes that possible.

Near the video's end, Melissa welcomes your questions about her Endless Pool, their DIY installation process, triathlon training, and more. "I don’t get paid for this, but I do love their products," she adds as her own disclaimer.

She also extends an invitation. "If you ever come visit me, y'all can come to my tri gym and swim with us. We can do a whole triathlon in my garage!" You'll find her there a lot these days -- she's training to swim in Nelson Mandela Bay as she recently qualified for the 2018 IRONMAN 70.0 World Championships in South Africa.

NOTE: Around the 5:40 mark, you'll start to see a few momentary pauses in the video's playback. These were part of her live video. In each of these few instances, the image and sound pick up after a second's pause; you won't miss a thing.

Learning to Relax

When she first spoke with us, Melissa admitted to having much anxiety during her first open-water swims. She credits her daily Endless Pool swims with helping her gain comfort in the water. "If you're swimming triathlon, you're in open water. What do you do in the Endless Pool? You swim against a current!"

With our adjustable swim current, she can easily gauge her progress. "In the Endless Pool, I can push myself, and it's making me a better swimmer."

Keep Calm and Swim On

With the daily stresses of training, being her own boss, and raising a family, Melissa looks forward to her daily Endless Pool swims. "I call it 'my brain-dump time.' I can let my brain relax and let myself go and focus on what I'm doing. … It improved my self-image and improved my confidence in myself.

"Yes, the Endless Pool is a little costly, but we can just get up and get a swim workout done. It's been such a lifesaver for us."