How to Listen to Music While Swimming

 To listen to music while swimming, you will need two things, 1.  Headphones rated for underwater use and 2. MP3 player rated for underwater use -or- waterproof pouch for your current MP3 player .  This article will tell you how to do this!  Join the many, many people who now experience their own zen while swimming laps and listening to music.  It is a wonderful meditation and exercise at the same time.  When swimming there are no blackberries, cell phones, loud people on the next piece of exercise equipment.  Just you, the sound of water rushing by, the sound of your rhythmic breathing which is the indicator of the effort of the work out and your music.  This can become an addicting time, when everyone needs a piece of you at work, at home, your extended family, the pool becomes a refuge where you can be alone with your thoughts and your music. 

To waterproof your current MP3 player purchase a waterproof case made for this purpose. Some of these cases also come with underwater earphones which can be worn above on land as well.

If you prefer to keep you current MP3 player on dry land, invest in an underwater MP3 player. The brand names are Freestyle Audio, Nu Dolphin and others. If you are scuba diving you will need to pay close attention to the products depth ratings. Typically they come with earphones such as those mentioned in step 1. They also come with USB connector for charging and loading music, an arm band and several earphone buds. Many can be found on ebay, read the details of the offering to determine what is included.

If you want high fidelity, crystal clear music while underwater - you will need to purchase headphones that work underwater by conducting vibrations through the bone to the inner ear. Because "land" earphones rely on air to transfer the vibrations to the eardrum, it can be difficult to get consistently good sound while underwater. Thus the need to invest in bone conduction headphones. You can buy the Audiobone aqua headphones that attach to any MP3 player to match up with your MP3 player in a waterproof pouch (step 1) or the waterproof MP3 player (step 3). Or you can purchase the Finis SwiMP3 that has the MP3 player and the bone conduction "paddles" integrated. The SwiMP3 hooks on the swimmers goggles and provides crystal clear sound.

If you purchase the bone conduction headphones or MP3 player, allow yourself about 15 minutes to 'learn' to hear through bone conduction without the use of the eardrum. Wearing ear plugs helps to decrease the noise of bubbles, splashing and breathing, increasing the clarity of the bone conduction.