Swim watch

RE: Swim watch

swimnfit — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 02:33:47 GMT

Maybe I just had bad luck. At first I really loved the Garmin Swim. But after having one leak and ruin the watch, I bought another one. Had the battery replaced by a professional only to have the battery leak and compromise the watch again. I am now considering the Fitbit, Versa or Ionic. Maybe even an Apple watch. I'm a bit paranoid now.

RE: Swim watch

polka_stripes — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 03:48:07 GMT

I am in the market for a new swim watch. I have the Garmin Swim but I don't really use it. I found the lap count inaccurate and completely useless for kick sets. I am looking for a swim watch with GPS which will also serve me in open water swims. I recently saw the Suunto Spartan. This is a multi sport watch and I was impressed. Does anybody use this watch? What about the Garmin Forerunner 735XT? Other recommendations? I L O V E my garmin forerunner 735XT. It goes with me everywhere, swim (open water and pool - and all kinds of sets in the pool too with the "drill log" setting), biking, running, hiking, step counter, etc. I like the wrist heart rate calculator for non-swim activities and it pairs easily with bluetooth HRMs for swimming. The face is really customizable for the different activities, so you can either see a lot of data at once or less data and bigger numbers if you're just doing a long distance set. It's always on my wrist.

RE: Swim watch

Darrinf — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 06:02:22 GMT

I love my Apple Watch 3. Of course it’s the only swim watch I’ve used:) It does offer auto splits 50,100 etc. You won’t get heart rate for specific splits or sets. I’m sure the data is there somewhere? I use it mainly for general yardage and avg heart rate for an overall workout. My goal is to keep my average HR for each workout. The only issue I have with it is that it misses some of the yardage for sets that include kicking.

RE: Swim watch

ssumargo — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 08:39:06 GMT

I started with the Garmin Swim, loved it. The lap count was extremely accurate for me and for kick sets, I use the drill mode. I then started doing open water swims and wanted to track them my route, so I switched to the Garmin Forerunner 735XT. I love it too. I find that the lap count is not as accurate, it's usually missing another 25y. I don't know how accurate the GPS is, but it sure is fun looking at your path online. I also use the smart notifications feature of it, so email/text alerts makes my watch vibrate. I am always in meetings at work, so I need it to be on vibrate mode or silent mode. The vibration is super strong on this watch, so strong that you can hear it. And it took a while to shut off all sounds. The reaction time is slower too, compared to the garmin swim. With the swim, I was able to start the timer and immediately swim off. But it does pause when I accidentally hit my watch against the lane lines. With the forerunner, I have to wait 2 sec after starting the timer to make sure it does go off but I haven't had it pause on me when I hit the lane lines. I don't use the other features of the watch. I like that I was able to customize the face of the watch like the other smart watches out there. I used to also have a samsung gear2 as my regular smart watch. I had to charge it every night. But I replaced it with the forerunner as well, and I have to charge it once a week and usually it charges within a couple of hours.

RE: Swim watch

joshua — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 01:53:42 GMT

RE: Swim watch

Former Member — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 16:58:47 GMT

I personally like my Garmin fitness tracker. I like that because it monitor my mileage, average pace and personal best times. I've been using the Garmin Swim for a couple of months and I like it very much. It counts laps perfectly, there are lots of product in market right now. but Garmin is old brand. it monitors all fitness activity like heart rate pulse. when you workout it can help to monitor your every step to burn your calory. it sends all data to your apps. now a days Fitbit is the popular one. i can find some cools stuff in some swim activity tracker you also look best waterproof fitness tracker

RE: Swim watch

Former Member — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 06:24:23 GMT

I personally use a Garmin Swim and can find no fault with it. An added bonus is that you can upload the workout for Discovery points

RE: Swim watch

Former Member — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 11:59:45 GMT

One word: Moov Now :) It has a very low profile and records tons of stuff. You need to sync the device to your phone and results won't be visible until after your workout but there is tons of data there. I have found it to be very accurate and reliable. If it stops working be sure the check the battery. This happened to me and it took some time to figure that out.

RE: Swim watch

Signpheld — Mon, 28 May 2018 04:44:35 GMT

What is your swim watch of choice then? Maybe I didn't think through what I actually wanted out of this watch, but I found the Garmin Swim to be nothing more than a glorified waterproof watch. You might be seeking different things, but here's what I found. The stroke counting mechanism works fine enough for fly and ***, but not for free or back since it can only count strokes for one arm. So, if I was swimming free and had the watch on, the watch might read "5" at the end of a length, but that could mean I took 9, 10 or 11 single arm strokes. That data for free and back, therefore, is meaningless to me. The lap counting mechanism works fine, but I don't ever do long straight swims where I would lose count and, if I did lose count, glancing at the pace clock while pushing off the wall is easier and less disruptive to my swim than trying to read the small watch face. The "which stroke was I swimming" identification was suspect The downloaded data (and I am a data geek) was less useful than my memory or, if I was going to do something complex, a pencil and an $11 diving slate by the side of the pool. The one place it came in handy was on the odd times when I dropped into lap swim at a pool without a pace clock. But, then it really just turned into a small pace clock I wrapped around my water bottle.

RE: Swim watch

67King — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 12:44:57 GMT

Just want to bump this to see if anyone has yet tried the Samsung Fit 2 pro. Its been out a few months, now. It is on sale for $150. I tried to look at one at my local Best Buy, but it wasn't working. Going to look at another store, hopefully later today. But hoping someone may have some good feedback.

RE: Swim watch

cmolnar65 — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 08:35:05 GMT

I use the Garmin Vivioactive. It really does everything the Garmin Swim does. When I use it with the open water app that you can download for free the GPS and the heart rate monitors work. For the default swim app forget the heart rate, which I do not like.

RE: Swim watch

MSK — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 10:09:50 GMT

Does the Garmin 920XT show you your actual split when you hit "pause" for the interval timer? Now a year later, I am looking to upgrade to something that will do open water as well. But it really annoys me that on the Swim when I hit interval on, say, a 50 it will show :35. Really? It's better than the pace clock but my $20 timex gave me more precise splits, it just didn't record enough of them. :35 could mean :35.4 or all the way down to :34.6. I'm sorry, but if I'm trying to do a few fast splits for time and no one to time me, that's a pretty big range. It will show the tenths in the upload. But real time would be a confidence boost or kick in the pants. And forget trying any USRPT style sets with it. I'd be cranky to spend a lot more on a watch that didn't give this basic chronograph feature in real time. The data fields are quite programmable. I have mine set so that it will show me splits and interval times. The outdoor pool i use in the summer lacks a clock so I use the watch instead. I've also used it at a pool that only has an analog clock which I have trouble seeing (have yet to find optical goggles that I like). The watch is less convenient than a clock but does work. I do remove it if we are working on diving off the blocks. I also have to be careful not to get lazy about counting laps after an embarrassing incident where I finished a 200 after only going 150.

RE: Swim watch

Lane_7 — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 11:22:42 GMT

Has anyone tried the Apple Series 3 watch for interval swimming? I currently use a Garmin Swim Watch, and am interested in capturing heart rate information as well as detailed time information. Can the series 3 watch capture an end of swim interval time well?

RE: Swim watch

67King — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 02:16:41 GMT

I have a Garmin, and it is pretty much useless for anything other than a stopwatch. Anything else people like? Is there anything that lets one set intervals? Or that and rest. Example, if I'm hitting anything that doesn't end in 0 or 5, with a 20 second rest interval, I can't keep up with that. And so far my guesses have been a bit off, so when I have printed out the times to start, they are off. The other thing.......anyone see the new Samsung Fit2 Pro? Waterproof fitness thing that shows more info than whatever the waterproof fitbit shows. Heartrate is a big one I'd loev to be able to see. But it isn'tw orth the $200 just to see that. Wondering if anyone has used it and if it is more reliable than the Garmin in terms of stroke count of even yardage.

RE: Swim watch

m2tall2 — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 09:58:23 GMT

Has anyone tried any of the different swim apps on the Apple Watch? It looks like swim.com makes one and the one Fares designed, myswimwatch I think, looks interesting, too. I like having a daily fitness watch but having to take it off for my pool workouts and switch to a waterproof watch isn't my favorite thing.

RE: Swim watch

opeleroy — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 09:38:44 GMT

I've always been a bit of a snob when it comes to swimmers wearing watches while training. Used to swim with a kid who wore one of those G-Shock watches (they are laaaarge), and got clobbered a couple times hitting wrists while going in opposite directions. Left some spectacularly colored bruises. Anyhoo. Slowly coming around on the idea of them. Been taking a look around at some of the best waterproof fitness trackers and didn't realize that Speedo had partnered up with a wearables outfit to make one (MisFit Shine 2)... I like how slim it looks as well. Has anyone played around with one of these?

RE: Swim watch

aztimm — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 03:44:08 GMT

Here is a review: www.macrumors.com/.../ I feel the HR tracker is surprisingly reasonable (I say "surprisingly" because I didn't expect it to work well at all), though I've heard others who use it for running and cycling say that it is consistently low. The distance/laps tracker is not reliable at all for pool swimming. Besides not working for kicking, if you have any kind of underwater kick then it will significantly under-estimate the yardage. But if you just do freestyle back and forth it is probably fine. I feel like the calories tracking is a little low too. I've always liked the AW as a general-purpose device and I'm glad they added a swim workout to it. But I'm not very obsessive when it comes to fitness tracking; if you want to depend on a watch for serious tracking, I'd go elsewhere. As the review said, it would probably work well for OW swimming (and it has built-in GPS). I agree with most everything you said. For something I wanted anyway, it is nice to be able to track swim workouts too. Now that I've had it a few more months, I've played around with it even more, and I stand by my earlier review, with these additions: * It does give 100 splits, but you don't control anything. So if you swim 3000 yards, it will give you 30 splits, and includes any rest, kick sets, etc. * It tracks stroke. Mine is either, "freestyle," or, "mixed." I guess I should do an entire set of breaststroke and see what happens :afraid: I was actually going to say it over-calculates swim calories :banana: For a 500 in the gym pool holding a 1:30/100 pace it will give me about 100 cal. That's about 20 cal more than it gives me for a similar time of running...but then again, I'm just building back my running. The HR seems about right for me. I've been on beta blockers since a procedure in late October and I noticed an immediate change in my resting HR (lower). I don't often look, but you can view the HR through the Apple Health app, and it is interesting to see the ranges throughout the day (when I wear the watch at least).

RE: Swim watch

Former Member — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 14:49:45 GMT

I've recently been on the search for a nice waterproof swim watch. I did a bit of research on some of the best options available and compiled them into a coherent review here: reviewboard.io/.../ Hopefully this helps you and anyone looking for swimming fitness trackers get a better idea of what's out there and what to look for before purchasing one.

RE: Swim watch

onthegulf — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 09:19:43 GMT

I kept it simple after reading all of these reviews. I purchased a Sportscount Lap Counter & Timer. Sportscount has many models, mine is the LCT. I swim 200 lengths (5,000 yds) every day. Counting is the most boring thing imaginable. This counter fits on your index finger with the readout pointing towards your face. It has a manual button that you push at the end of each lap. This of course means a small effort on your part, but eliminates the issues with some watched that don't recognize your stroke (free, just kicking, etc). It gives you the following: Total laps, total time elapsed, Avg. lap, quickest lap, longest lap times. The only downfall is if you forget to hit the button at the end of a lap on time it will screw up your shortest & longest lap times at the summary, but you still get the counts, total time & avg.

RE: Swim watch

Former Member — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 09:06:36 GMT

But it really annoys me that on the Swim when I hit interval on, say, a 50 it will show :35. Really? After you hit PAUSE, just push the blue button two times. Then you will see your split time with 1/100 sec. I love my GARMIN SWIM. It counted my laps perfectly for the last three years (obviously no 1-arm-drills and kicking-sets).

RE: Swim watch

Chris Stevenson — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 05:47:54 GMT

I've been using the Apple Watch (2nd generation) for swimming for about 3 months now. Here is a review: www.macrumors.com/.../ I feel the HR tracker is surprisingly reasonable (I say "surprisingly" because I didn't expect it to work well at all), though I've heard others who use it for running and cycling say that it is consistently low. The distance/laps tracker is not reliable at all for pool swimming. Besides not working for kicking, if you have any kind of underwater kick then it will significantly under-estimate the yardage. But if you just do freestyle back and forth it is probably fine. I feel like the calories tracking is a little low too. I've always liked the AW as a general-purpose device and I'm glad they added a swim workout to it. But I'm not very obsessive when it comes to fitness tracking; if you want to depend on a watch for serious tracking, I'd go elsewhere. As the review said, it would probably work well for OW swimming (and it has built-in GPS).

RE: Swim watch

m2tall2 — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 07:46:39 GMT

RE: Swim watch

MSK — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 07:54:39 GMT

I've used Garmin 920XT a triathlon watch with pool mode like the Garmin Swim, Swimovate Poolmate 2, Misfit, and Fitbit Flex 2. You need to decide what you want to track and also plan for potentially outgrowing what you get. The Garmin, Swimovate and Flex 2 all work on the principal of counting laps based on your turns. The Garmin and Swimovate are about equal in accuracy. Swimovate is smaller on the wrist and much cheaper but lacks customizable display, is hard to read while swimming, and measures a lot fewer metrics. Garmin is much pricier, large on the wrist but is easy to read in the water, has customizable display, and gives way more info. I started with a Poolmate as a lap counter before I started Masters and learned about intervals, pace clock etc. I later switched to Garmin. I was happy with both devices for their respective purposes. (I also use my Garmin for triathlon and open water). My Poolmate is still working fine but has been passed on to a family member - I have outgrown it. My misfit was strictly an activity tracker. All it will record is how long you swam and how intensely. I do not recommend it as stated by another forum member because both the belt clip and the wrist strap are flawed. You will definitely lose your device. Mine kept falling out of the holder and was lost after about 3 or 4 months. I also do not recommend the Fitbit Flex 2 for swimming and frankly it is not even a very good step counter. I recently posted about it on another thread, but the short version is that it lacks a display, it only counts swimming sets longer than 10 minutes, has a poor app, and only a three day battery life. In summary both Garmin and Poolmate are quality devices at different price points and feature sets.

RE: Swim watch

aztimm — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 04:14:26 GMT

I've been using the Apple Watch (2nd generation) for swimming for about 3 months now. You do have to put it in, "workout mode," first. It essentially seals itself up, and you can't really do much with it until you finish. You can tap the screen to see your current distance/calories/time. Once you're done, scroll the wheel and it will unlock. You still need to stop the workout. Separately you put in your height/weight/which wrist you wear your watch on. The major flaws I have are: * doesn't track kicking * doesn't track doing 1-arm drills (for arm you don't have it on). Otherwise, I really enjoy the watch keeping track of my swimming, plus all the other things it does.

RE: Swim watch

ssumargo — Mon, 02 Jan 2017 07:56:27 GMT

I got a garmin swim a few months back and I love it. I have very thin wrists, all the other garmin watches were too big. The garmin swim fit perfectly. It counted my strokes and laps as well. Although the shortest distance you can have is 17 m, I believe. So far it has detected all my strokes correctly as well. I ran out of space once when I tried to save my swim logs and it asked if I wanted to purge the previous entries, which is a good thing. I was worried my log for that swim would have been lost. I also use swim.com which is automatically synced with the garmin connect. There is also a drills mode that allows you to mix with lap swimming. I found that extremely useful. The only problem is that the face has no light. So hopefully your pool has enough light for you to look at it while you are swimming.