In the latest big marketing deal for Michael Phelps, after announcing his Under Armour endorsement earlier this year, he has thrown his name behind Master Spa’s line of backyard endless-style pool.

While an already very-wealthy man making even more money might draw a yawn from most of the swimming community, this particular endorsement is actually quite interesting, and borderline exciting. That’s because these pools are designed to allow for actual backyard swim training.

Of course, these sort of pools have existed in the past. But they have been mostly aimed at those seeking general fitness. I have given a few swim lessons in those kind of pool, and they make it quite difficult to do any sort of training or maintain good technique. But the Master Spas line is supposed to be geared towards more competitive swimmers. Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman worked with engineers to design the pools, and if they are as good as advertised, they could open up opportunities for backyard training to people who otherwise would be unable to do so.

These pools will come with a number of other neat features that could be useful to a competitive swimmer, including a “rowing kit” and resistance bands.

The spas come in 6 different models, which range in cost from $25,000-$45,000. I’m not totally sold yet that it’s worth that kind of money, but I’m definitely intrigued by the idea. Phelps has said about the pools that “One of the biggest goals I have in my career is to grow the sport of swimming in as many ways as possible, and the ability to partner with Master Spas’ to create a signature line of swim spas is another unique way to help the sport.” This is indeed a noble goal, and if these spas live up to the hype, they could really bring new swimming opportunities many, especially in urban and suburban areas where space is the limiting factor.

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