The Best Swim Spas for Swimming: EVERYTHING you need to know

With a wide variety of options on the market, it can be challenging to choose the best swim spa for your needs. Especially if your need is swimming.

Over the past few years, many swim spa companies have increasingly focused on recreation or making swim spas that don’t offer much swimming capability. While that’s great for people who want a swim spa as more of a pool replacement, it’s less great for someone looking for the ultimate swimming experience or for year-round training.

At Hydropool, we want you to know what’s out there if you’re a serious swimmer or hoping to be one. This article will identify:

• The top companies that make swim spas.
• This post will also explore some of the top swim spa models, examining their current-creation systems, current delivery, adjustability, and design features.

Hydropool first began selling swim spas in the late 1990s. You’ll note that this article will talk about Hydropool’s competitors, and we know that’s unusual for one company to discuss another’s product alongside our own. But we know people want to shop around and we know reliable information can be hard to find online. So we want to try and help as much as possible, which is why we wrote this article. 

Here are the top swim spas we suggest you consider!

 

 

Endless Pools E-Series

Endless Pools are known for their technology and design. Here's why we think they are among the best:

-   Propulsion System: Endless Pools utilize a turbine or paddle-wheel system which creates a smooth, river-like swim current. This setup ensures a powerful and consistent swim experience.
-   Current Delivery: They offer a flat, wide, and deep current delivery, which provides excellent water volume. Without this, your don’t get enough resistance in your swim.
-   Adjustability: The level of control over the swimming current is substantial, allowing users to tailor the experience to their fitness level.
-   Shell and Suction Placement: The overall swim quality remains high. The propulsion device slightly intrudes into the swim area, which can restrict space.

For a specific model, we’d say start at the E-series, which has the E500 or the E700.

Masters Swim Spas MP Collection

The Masters MP collection, including the MP Signature, MP Momentum, and Force D models, have some innovative features:

- Propulsion System: The Wave XP propulsion system is propeller-based, ensuring a smooth and predictable swim.
- Current Delivery: The current is narrow but deep, providing low turbulence and a predictable swimming environment.
- Adjustability: Extensive adjustability from 0-100 allows for tailoring the current to various swimming abilities.
- Shell and Suction: These models will feature a smaller swim tank than a jetted unit due to the propulsion system requiring more space than a jet model.

Hydropool Executive Collection

Hydropool’s Executive 16-foot or 19-foot models stand out with their design and advanced technologies:

- Propulsion System: Variable speed pumps drive the propulsion in these models.
- Current Delivery: V-Twin jets double the flow from the pumps, reducing turbulence and making the current highly predictable.
- Adjustability: With 10 levels of swim, it offers easy adjustability that operates like a treadmill, offering a clear progression of resistance levels.
- Shell and Suction: Innovative shell designs offer better space distribution, and suctions are optimally placed to avoid interference with swimming.

We would say the above models are the top three (I know we are putting ourselves in there, and we are biased, but we were one of the pioneers in this market, first selling swim spas as far back as 1997). They are available in the most markets and offer the best mix of value and cost.

There are three companies below that we also want to highlight. These are also excellent swim spas for swimming and are good choices but are slightly behind the top contenders. We’ll explain why for each brand.

 

The Hydropool Executive Trainer is Hydropool’s elite swim system. The swim spa turns the water into a conveyor belt, with a large current collector inhaling the water at one end, only to expel it at the other end. It's a unique system that creates a wide, flat, strong current to swim into.

PDC TruSwim Collection

PDC offers robust swim spa options, with the TruSwim series being the highlight. It’s only not a top pick only because the spas are sold in a comparatively small region compared to the other brands – the areas around Pennsylvania in the United States, where they are made. Let’s check out the TruSwim’s attributes:

- Propulsion System: Dual propellers mounted side by side create powerful water movement, although they do take space away from your swim tank.
- Current Delivery: The grated delivery system shreds the vortex for deep, voluminous, and low turbulence water circulation. We’re big fans of this approach at Hydropool: You can’t have a stable current without doing this.
-   Adjustability: Offers five different levels of swim.
-   Shell Design: While the shell design is more traditional pool, the suction placement is beneficial and well-placed for continuous water flow.

SwimEX Swim Spas

This is unique product with a unique cost. Looking at the company website, SwimEX swim spas start at nearly $50,000 US (or about $70,000 Canadian). That’s the highest opening price of any swim spa brand we know of (Hydropool’s lowest price offering is the 13FFP, which is half that, for current pricing click here.) We do like that the company is upfront about what it’s charging: full respect for Swim X for putting the price online. We wish all companies would do the same.

Swim X is clearly a premium brand, offering custom-built solutions for serious swimmers:

- Propulsion System: Massive paddle wheel that spans the full width of the swim spa, providing a seamless sheet of water flow.
- Current Delivery: Comparable to a jet, the delivery is both wide and adjustable, although not infinite, it remains highly customizable.
- Shell Design: The catch basin design effectively eliminates turbulence by recycling water beneath the swimming area.

Coast Performance Collection

Coast swim spas are made in British Columbia. Coast’s Performance series provides a different approach with its Sport Swim System:

- Propulsion System: Uses standard pumps for propulsion (Hydropool offers these on some models, but not for elite swim machines).
- Current Delivery: Features the Riverflow jet by Waterways, which, while producing less water volume than competitors, uses an Atlas grill to refine the flow.
- Shell and Suction: The absence of shell hips and suction location is why it doesn’t quite make the top category, but the swim spas are balanced with its accessibility and adjustable swim speed.

What to look for in the best swim spa for swimming?

When selecting a swim spa, consider the following factors:

-   Size and Height Suitability: Larger swim spas (16-19 feet) are better suited for taller individuals, ensuring ample space for a comfortable swim. For those under 6 feet, a smaller spa (14 feet) may suffice.
-   Customization and Adjustability: The ability to adjust the swim current is crucial for tailoring the experience to different fitness levels and preferences.
-   Shell and Suction Design: Look for designs that offer ample space and optimal suction placement to avoid interference during your swim.
-   Propulsion System: Consider the type of propulsion system, whether it is paddlewheel, propeller, or jet, as it influences the swimming experience. Don’t be afraid to try before you buy.

Selecting the best swim spa involves balancing personal preferences with the features that different models offer. Endless Pools, Masters, Hydropool, PDC, Swim X, and Coast all bring unique strengths to the table, ensuring a variety of options to suit any swimmer's needs.

One last tip: Don’t be afraid of trying before you buy. We know that everyone may not want to switch into swim clothes are a dealer. But a) if the dealer won’t let you try the swim, that’s a red flag right there. And b) if swim is important to you, you’ll want to know for certain what you are getting and that it’s not just good enough for you right now, but strong enough to handle you as you get better.

Ready to talk to a Hydropool dealer about these options? Reach out here.