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Fabulous and Affordable Underwater Camera

A Product Review by John Leonard

At Eastern States Clinic, conducted by Peter Daland and Sue Davis in Valley Forge, PA, I first saw Coach Dave Kilmer with his new underwater camera. (His company, Underwater Camera Company of America, phone 619-997-7946, email Dave@ucca.biz, website www.ucca.biz )

My first impression was “ya, ya, ya, another underwater “system."

I was wrong.

I had Dave send me one. It’s a small camera on a uni-pod (A stick for you low-tech guys) with a camera mount on the top. It opens and extends to about 6 feet. It retracts and compresses to about 3 feet long. It goes in and out of your car, closet, etc. very easily. Its light. (you can carry it around deck at the same time  you lug that stopwatch and workout sheet…) It could not be any more convenient.

My big objection in the past was convenience and the lack thereof, to underwater systems….but not to this one. I stuck it in the water, turned on my SONY video camera, hit one power button for the unit and Voila!, I had terrific picture quality and I could move it to any angle or location I wanted, when I wanted, instantly. Its just like putting a stick in the pool, no harder. You can hold it still with one hand, use your watch with the other, and with a  camera with a viewing window, pull an athlete out of the water, instantly show them something and have them hop right back in….right by the side of the pool. And if you want to show them someone else in the water, leave the camera on, and you can do that as simply as you can say it.

Ease of assembly? There virtually is almost none. You plug one end of a cord into your camera (like you would to play it on a tv screen) and one end into the stick. Done. Ready to view and record.

I am not a high tech coach. I have avoided this stuff like plague. And I used it just about every day, multiple times a day, for a 6 week period. I used it at 5  AM, when we had artificial light on the pool, in the daytime and at 5 PM when the natural light was at steep angles to the pool and not too bright. All were perfect. It helped my athletes learn to correct their skills, and gave me some insight into what they were doing when I couldn’t see all that well underwater from the deck. And it was easy. Easy. Easy. Key word.

This one works beautifully and the price is right. I suspect it would be as useful for learn to swim teachers as it is for coaches, and for coaches, its simple enough to use it and still coach at the same time.

I told Dave that I’d review it and then buy it if I liked it, after the test period. My checks in the mail.  Great Job Coach Dave.

Call Dave for Pricing. (619) 997-7946 You’ll like this.  

                                                      John Leonard