The trouble with pool data is timing. A number seen after the set can explain what happened, but it cannot help a swimmer manage the length already underway. That distinction is what made swim coach Lukas Siska’s test of HoloSwim 3 Pro worth watching.

Siska, the coach behind Siska Training Systems, took the goggles into the water for a freestyle session. His verdict became the title of his review: “It felt like cheating.”

It is a playful line, not a laboratory result. What matters is the experience behind it—seeing useful swim information without lifting an arm, reaching the wall, or waiting until the workout is over.

For Siska, the interesting part of smart swim goggles for swim training was not collecting more data. It was moving selected data into the swim itself, where it could be checked without turning every length into a watch-reading exercise.

A Coach Who Looks at What Happens Between the Walls

Siska’s work centers on freestyle. He focuses on the practical details swimmers wrestle with: connecting power to the water, making a technique change hold, and finding adjustments that survive once fatigue arrives.

That background gives him a different reason to test a display-equipped goggle. The question is not simply whether it records a swim. It is whether the information appears at a useful moment and whether the swimmer can read it without losing the feel of the stroke.

His HoloSwim 3 Pro review puts that question in the pool rather than answering it from a specification sheet.

The Feedback Gap in Freestyle Training

Freestyle is full of delayed information.

A swimmer may think a repeat felt controlled, then discover at the wall that the pace drifted. Another may increase effort without getting the expected change in speed. A watch can record the outcome, but looking at it during a length is awkward and can interrupt body position.

The coach on deck can close part of that gap. So can the pace clock. Neither, however, places selected metrics inside the swimmer’s normal line of sight.

This is the practical case for a heads-up display: it shortens the distance between swimming and checking. It does not turn a metric into coaching. It simply makes the metric available sooner.

What Siska Took Into the Pool

HoloSwim 3 Pro displays swim information through a transparent in-lens screen. In pool mode, swimmers can choose from metrics including distance, elapsed time, average pace, lap count, stroke count, rest time, and average SWOLF.

SWOLF combines the time and stroke count for a pool length. Swimmers commonly use it as a repeatable efficiency reference, not as a universal score of technique.

The goggles also save the session for review in the HoloSport app after the workout. That creates two separate layers: a small amount of information during the swim, followed by the fuller record later.

Siska’s video focuses on the first layer—the experience of swimming freestyle while the display is available. His feature summary highlights the real-time display and customizable pages. That matters because a crowded screen is rarely a useful screen.

Why “It Felt Like Cheating”

The phrase works because it captures a familiar swimmer’s reaction. Normally, pace information belongs to the wall, the watch, or the coach. Bringing it into the goggles changes that routine.

But “cheating” should not be read as a promise that equipment makes someone faster. The more grounded interpretation is that some of the usual friction has been removed. A swimmer can glance at a chosen cue and keep moving.

That can be useful in a set built around consistency. If the training question is, “Can I hold this effort without letting the pace unravel?” then live pace has a job.

If the question is, “Why is my left hand crossing the centerline?” the display cannot answer it.

That distinction matters. Numbers can tell a swimmer that something changed. They do not always explain why it changed.

Useful Data Still Requires a Training Question

Smart swim goggles for swim training work best when the swimmer decides what matters before pushing off. Loading every available number into the display defeats the point.

A cleaner approach is to match one or two cues to the set:

• Use pace and lap count for a controlled aerobic block.
• Use elapsed time and distance for a continuous swim.
• Review stroke count and SWOLF across comparable repeats instead of chasing either number in isolation.
• Save detailed analysis for the app, when attention is no longer needed for the lane.

The display should support the set the coach wrote. It should not become the set.

A swimmer who checks the screen every few strokes may lose more than they gain. The value comes from getting a quick answer and returning attention to the water.

What Smart Goggles Cannot See

HoloSwim 3 Pro can report what its sensors record, but it cannot watch a swimmer from the deck.

It does not see an early vertical forearm, a dropped elbow, a mistimed breath, or tension building through the shoulders. Video review and an experienced coach remain better tools for those questions.

Live numbers can also become distracting when a swimmer checks them too often. The sensible starting point is a simple display and a familiar pool session. Afterward, the swimmer can check whether the recorded distance, pool length, and lap count make sense.

That first-session check is easy to overlook. A new device needs to earn trust against a workout the swimmer already understands.

In open water, GPS and compass features provide navigation guidance, not a guarantee of safety. Swimmers still need situational awareness, an appropriate route, visible support where conditions call for it, and a plan that accounts for weather, water traffic, and local rules.

Who This Training Approach May Suit

Siska’s test is most relevant to swimmers who already have a reason to monitor a metric.

That includes coached swimmers working on pace discipline, masters swimmers completing structured sets, and triathletes who want pool feedback without repeatedly turning to a watch.

It may be less useful for a beginner who is still learning breathing, balance, and basic lane awareness. At that stage, one clear instruction from a coach is often more valuable than several live numbers.

The appeal of HoloSwim 3 Pro is not that it replaces the coach. It puts selected swim metrics where the swimmer can use them, then preserves the session for a more considered review afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do smart swim goggles improve freestyle technique?

Smart goggles can make pace, distance, lap, and stroke-related information easier to check, but they cannot diagnose freestyle mechanics by themselves. Use the display for measurable training cues and rely on coaching or video for body position, catch, breathing, and timing.

Can HoloSwim 3 Pro replace a swim watch?

That depends on the swimmer’s workflow. HoloSwim 3 Pro places swim metrics in the field of view and records the session for later analysis. A watch may still be preferred for broader multisport tracking. Some athletes will use one device; others will keep both for different jobs.

Which metrics should a swimmer display first?

Start with the smallest set that answers the workout’s main question. Pace plus lap count is a practical pairing for repeat sets. Elapsed time plus distance works for continuous swimming. Add another number only when it changes a decision that can be made during the session.

Does HoloSwim 3 Pro measure heart rate by itself?

No. HoloSwim 3 Pro does not contain a heart-rate sensor. Heart-rate data requires a compatible separate monitor, such as HandPlus B2. The goggles provide swim tracking, in-lens feedback, open-water navigation guidance, and post-swim analysis.

Siska’s “It felt like cheating” reaction captures the immediate appeal of seeing swim data without breaking rhythm. The lasting value, however, depends on something less dramatic: choosing the right metric, looking at it at the right moment, and knowing what the number can—and cannot—tell you.