GPS watches for tracking distance and time of open water swims

nvr2late · May 2012

I would like to invest in a Garmin to track my open water swims. There are so many models, I thought that I would open this thread to see which one is favored by forum members. Thank you for your input.

Bill · May 2012

910XT - Love it. Great for OW and pool swimming.

GarbageBarge · May 2012

Not a Garmin, but I just got the Finis hydro tracker. Still working out some kinks with it, but for knowing how far you went, and seeing a track of your swim, it seems pretty good. AquaRob and few other places have discount codes for 20% off. Complaints: my computer seems to have trouble picking up that it's docked, and you have no way of knowing if you turned it on successfully, unless you have it off and are looking at it (with cupped hands in bright day light). In the mean time, the clock has started while you put your goggles on.

IronMike · May 2012

How funny. My finis swimsense has trouble docking. Or rather my computer doesn't recognize the watch is docked.

AquaRob · May 2012

Personally I've swam with the Garmin 310xt and the Finis HydroTracker, I like both. The Garmin is far and away the better GPS unit with a lot more features, but the HydroTracker is pretty awesome for the price (it's like $200 cheaper). I haven't had a chance to play with a 910xt yet but I know @jenschumacher has one, she wrote about it here: http://jenschumacher.org/blog/comments/garmin-910xt/

WaterGirl · May 2012

How funny. My finis swimsense has trouble docking. Or rather my computer doesn't recognize the watch is docked.

I love the SwimSense for the pool when it works, but I'm waiting for my THIRD replacement right now. Some of them dock fine, some not so well. Design quality is great, product quality is lacking.

I wish I had a 910xt. I use a Garmin 205 for open water. It's not supposed to be waterproof, but I haven't had a problem. I put on a silicone cap, then my goggles. I anchor the Garmin straps under my goggle straps, buttons pointing up. Then I cover the whole thing with a latex cap. I turn the Garmin on before I strap it on. I hit start when I start, and I hit lap before and after every feed. If you don't hit lap, it's very difficult to get split information.

When you're finished swimming, you have to turn the Garmin off. If you just hit stop, the timer stops, but it maps your route home.

It takes some practice to get used to hitting the buttons while it's on your head. Aside from the waterproof issue, wearing on your head captures a more accurate route.

evmo · May 2012

For open water I put a Garmin 205 (with wrist straps removed) in a plastic sandwich bag under a single cap - but Katie's method sounds more refined. Paths and distances seem very accurate. Incidentally, I also use it for hiking, though I've found the transponder isn't quite strong enough to hold a signal in canyons with heavy forest cover.

For lap swimming I use a Swimsense. FINIS replaced it after about a year when the digital display started flickering. On both the replacement and the original, I've had problems docking with the computer. Agree with others that the quality of construction on the Garmins is higher... though I've heard from some tri friends that the Swimsense is more accurate at stroke counts & lap counts, compared to the 910xt. That could change with future firmware upgrades...

IronMike · May 2012

I would be waiting for a replacement swimsense, but we can't ship anything with lithium batteries from here. So, by the time I get back, the warranty probably will be dead. Oh well.

evmo · May 2012

IronMike said:
So, by the time I get back, the warranty probably will be dead. Oh well.

They didn't ask for a receipt or date of purchase when they replaced mine...

WaterGirl · May 2012

They didn't ask for a receipt or date of purchase when they replaced mine...

They're great about that part.

I never had one replaced for the docking issue. I could always get around that by pressing it in very firmly and holding all four corners until it showed up. The replacements have been for more serious issues. They start to leak a little, and then they freeze up while you're swimming. On my last one, the auto pause feature didn't work right.

heart · May 2012

Slightly off-topic, but I'm really enjoying my little Chrono 100 for pool workouts. I bought it as a consolation prize in lieu of the Garmin I can't afford this month. The little gadget is worn on your finger and it keeps track of your laps and splits. I love it!

[Deleted User] · May 2012

i had a Neoprene cap made with a 'pocket' on top to house a Garmin 310XT. It's worked a dream. The new 910xt has a swim function that compensates for stroke and underwater (pull on stroke) such it still keeps good tracking while on the wrist.
With the Garmin on the head you can set the time and distance alert it to 'Buzz'. ie 500m and 15minutes with different buzzes, kinda fun. Be warned when i first wore it and it Buzzed i jumped out of my skin, - one hell of a fright. Have tried to get the HR strap to pick up, alas failed. Side benefit of GPS tracking is checking out how direct you are swimming. helped me on that front. all in all a winner

Bill · May 2012

evmo said:
Agree with others that the quality of construction on the Garmins is higher... though I've heard from some tri friends that the Swimsense is more accurate at stroke counts & lap counts, compared to the 910xt. That could change with future firmware upgrades...

I find my 910xt has been bang on in pool workouts for distance and stroke counting. However, when I'm sprinting free, it has been known to record those laps as butterfly laps... probably stroke problems vs the garmin.

jenschumacher · May 2012

I should update that, I grew disenchanted with the 910xt and sold it. It worked well, but I preferred my old 310 without wrist straps which I put in a waterproof pouch under my cap, similarly to @watergirl and @evmo. I did not find the 910's stroke count feature very accurate, and it was almost never accurate in the pool. I've been using the FINIS Hydrotracker, which is great when it works, but I have been having issues with my computer recognizing it, as well as user-errors because it is difficult to tell when it's on/tracking.

bcobb · May 2012

I am currently waiting for my 3rd Hydro Tracker. When it works it is accurate and it is comfortable to swim with. Their tech support has been very accommodating and did tell me that the unit had to be turned off when docking or the computer won't recognize the unit. I also found that you have to really push the unit firmly into the dock to get a good connection.

dc_in_sf · May 2012

I'm another 310xt user. I used to have it attached to my goggles but now just just shove it under my swim cap. Fits nicely and is sufficently waterproof to not require anything else. WIth the 910xt out I suspect you could get a good deal on a used 310xt from craigslist or the like.

IronMike · September 2013

OK you guys, I need help. I have a Garmin 310XT. I've had it connected and even uploaded a bunch of my swims and bikes to Garmin Connect.

We bought a new computer (Dell) which has Windows 8. I've plugged the thumb drive (ANT+) into a USB 2.0 port (computer said not to plug it into a 3.0). No matter what I do, it cannot find my device.

I've restarted several times. I've also checked and the drivers are all updated.

Ideas?

dc_in_sf · September 2013

@IronMike try some of the other ports. It's weird but I have had issues where certain devices will only work in certain ports (so much for the idea of standards)

IronMike · September 2013

Thanks @dc_in_sf, I've tried it in all the 2.0 USB ports, which are the only ones it'll work in.

IronMike · September 2013

Thanks @Niek. I downloaded to my computer the latest software, no joy. I tried the ANT+ stick initially in my 3.0 slots. No joy. I'll keep trying.

[Deleted User] · September 2013

why has no one mentioned the garmin swim?

ColmBreathnach · September 2013

I don't have a garmin, but i got a finis hydrotracker this year and its proven pretty reliable. It doesn't have a display, so it may not suit the "I need to know NOW" brigade, but for me it means it doesn't distract you while you're swimming. USB connection can be tempermental, but all I need to do is give the contacts a wipe. They seem to build up a salt residue after a few swims which affects their operation. Online analysis of the swim does give 100m splits, which is handy.
It can take a few minutes to find a signal, so turn it on when you start getting undressed. It's better than hopping around at the waters edge in the freezing cold waiting for the LED to go green.
I would recommend it.

sarah_q · September 2013

I have a number of triathlete friends who are very satisfied with their 910 in the open water but not as happy with it in the pool. I have a 310 that I tried swimming with in my cap but it bothers me after longer than an hour. I use mapmyrun.com to track my swim distances before or after the fact. You can draw the map on water if you uncheck "follow roads".

RiverRat · September 2013

I'm on my 3rd or 4th hydrotracker and my 2nd swimsense through FINIS tech support. I have had the docking problems, and sometimes the hydrotracker would show me going through land with inaccurate distances on my swims. Now neither device will upload a workout. uggh!

dc_in_sf · September 2013

RiverRat said:
I'm on my 3rd or 4th hydrotracker and my 2nd swimsense through FINIS tech support. I have had the docking problems, and sometimes the hydrotracker would show me going through land with inaccurate distances on my swims. Now neither device will upload a workout. uggh!

Finis doesn't really have good build quality, I ditched my swimsense for a garmin swim when it broke and have been very happy (and very much like having all my data in one place since I was already using Garmin for GPS).

JonML · September 2013

I like my 910 XT. I just wear it on my wrist and am interested in hearing why those who tuck it into their caps do so. Is there a problem with keeping it on one's wrist over long periods of time? The most I've worn it for was 2.5 hours, but it was still comfortable at that point.

dc_in_sf · September 2013

JonML said:
I like my 910 XT. I just wear it on my wrist and am interested in hearing why those who tuck it into their caps do so. Is there a problem with keeping it on one's wrist over long periods of time? The most I've worn it for was 2.5 hours, but it was still comfortable at that point.

My sense is that the distance tracking is more accurate when it is under your cap. I've not done any studies to confirm that though.

hmeerman · September 2013

I agree with @dc_in_sf. I always swim OW with my strapless 310xt under my cap. It is more accurate (both distance and line) than when I originally tried wearing it on my wrist, and comfortable indefinitely (at least through ~8.5 h). Despite swimming for many years (including many long swims) wearing a wristwatch, I stopped doing so about 2 years ago and haven't looked back.

kotjmf · September 2013

I'm pretty happy with my 910 XT. I've worn it on my wrist for nearly every (over 65) open water swim this year and, despite the rather bulky appearance (it's definitely ugly), I've never found it to be uncomfortable (even after 4 hours and 15 minutes of the Boston Light Swim). I have it set to record laps at some distance interval (anywhere from 200 to 500m). In addition to providing information that may be interesting to examine later, the regular lap-marking vibration tells me I'm actually making progress, which can be reassuring. I tend not to look at it while swimming - especially racing - but I've found I'm usually able to read the biggest display while only missing one arm stroke. I haven't scrutinized the stroke counting much, but have decided I don't trust it completely.

I rarely use it in the pool - pretty much only when I'm in a 25y pool without an easily readable clock and I'm planning to swim something longish (i.e. where I'm at risk of losing the lap count in my head). I find it will occasionally miss a lap, but that's easy to spot when looking at the activity later. The stroke identification leaves something to be desired. It gets freestyle right, but almost always thinks my butterfly is freestyle, and sometimes confuses breaststroke and backstroke. This could be due to poor form on my part, although I'm confident my strokes are at the very least legal. But Stroke ID is more of a gee-whiz feature to me. I know what stroke I did and will get it right when I enter my workout in my spreadsheet.

curly · July 2016

Are there any new trackers that are being used successfully? Seems like the Finis doesn't exist any more. I don't know much about the Garmins. I've been using iPhone with Nike Plus. Phone in Ziplock, in a swim buoy. It is fairly OK. I've used it for seven swims. It failed to record my two best swims. I had two days of smooth surface and I was moving right along and I got nothing. The other days were rough going and it recorded those honestly. One swim wasn't recorded at all and one swim had the time and distance way off although it showed the track completely. It's like the fish that got away... "I'm telling you I was moving. Probably 10 minute miles..." ;)

robrecht · July 2016

I'm still liking my Garmin Forerunner 735XT that I got for Father's Day. Does open-water swimming and pool swimming. Not as heavy, bulky, or expensive as the Garmin fēnix 3 HR, but almost as capable. The fenix has longer battery life (if you're a slow Ironman) and an altimeter, but if you're in to biking, the 735XT is already capable of integrating with the cool Varia radar biking gear. None of this is really necessary, of course, and I'm kind of a purist in eschewing electronics over good old-fashioned hard work and fitness, but if you want a good Garmin for open-water and pool swimming, definitely take a look at the new Forerunner 735XT.

kejoyce · July 2016

I recently got a Suunto Ambit3, and so far I absolutely love it. It cost me $250 when I found it on sale at Clever Training online. I had a finis tracker that just wasn't doing it for me.

It keeps track of distance, stroke rate, and pace really well in open water. The battery life is billed at 10 hours with a decent sample rate, though I haven't tested it out that long yet. There are two swimming modes, one for open water and another for pool swimming - it detects when you turn around and keeps a lap count. There's an interval feature, too - you can program in a workout if you care to go through the work ahead of time. It's also swimming HR-compatible - which I don't think Garmin has mastered yet. One of the more expensive Suunto watches can also do water temperature which is nice to have.

One downside if you're a triathlete is that it's not ANT-compatible, it's bluetooth. So if you have all ANT sensors for your bike you'd have to invest in new ones. I find that the bluetooth makes for an easier upload to the phone app, and then to the website. I also like the website display, it'll make a little movie of where you've gone.

So far I've used it only in open water, and on some long walks through Boston when I turned it on just for kicks. This is what the website version looks like: http://www.movescount.com/moves/move112027172

Also they come in fun colors, and who doesn't love fun colors?

suziedods · July 2016

So, here's food for thought...distances are measured point to point. When one uses a garmin or other type of device, that device measures every little bit.. the zig to the left and the zag to the right. Oddly enough some also also measure elevation, so if one is in lumpy conditions you can gain and lose elevation! This means that while the distance is 10.2K ( or what have you) your garmin shows you swam 11.5(eg). But you didn't! You swam 10.2, you just zigged and zagged enough to show 11.5. As an avowed luddite( barring email and fb) I count time in the water (using my timex ironman watch) and point to point distances. In the pool, I count distance from the workout I do , which is in scy or long course meters. And i write those distances in pencil on an MSF calendar. :)

kejoyce · July 2016

Suzie you're totally right about it adding every little zig and some of the metrics available now are waaaaay too much information!

Most of it for me comes down to my brain... I'm really analytical and also lived a stint as a triathlete where everything is numbers and metrics and splits and HR and aaaaagh. I found that all horribly overwhelming after a time, part of why I've retreated back to the water :)

Metrics aside, there are a couple reasons I like having a GPS. I like seeing exactly where I've been and how closely I actually followed the line I thought I was following. When I'm swimming into the sun in the evening I can see how horribly off my line I've gone, which is mostly just for fun... but when swimming in places with significant tides the point-to point can vary. If I follow the curve of the bay at low tide, I swim significantly less distance than if I follow it at high tide (it's a pretty shallow area). If I swim the same route multiple days, I still like to be able to correlate how I felt with how far or how fast I was going.

I've heard triathletes whine before about their Garmin measuring a 5K as 3.3 miles. I think if it's taken that seriously it's overkill... but it can be a nice training tool when used for fun :)

timsroot · July 2016

suziedods said: I count time in the water (using my timex ironman watch) and point to point distances. In the pool, I count distance from the workout I do , which is in scy or long course meters. And i write those distances in pencil on an MSF calendar. :)

While I prefer a spreadsheet to the paper log method (excel can convert the units for you, making everything on a consistent unit basis, and yes, I am an engineer, why do you ask?), but other than that, I agree. If I swim extra because I can't swim in a straight line, or count laps correctly, that's on me.

curly · July 2016

Thanks for the info on the Garmin and the Ambit. I will look into those. Also, a strange thing happened yesterday. I was using my iPhone in a bag again. This time it gave me a really good track and accurate distance and time. I was thinking back to the days where it was messed up and trying to figure out what was different. On the bad days, it was really overcast, low clouds etc. Yesterday it was pretty clear sky. I don't know much about GPS and satellites, but I'm wondering if that could be the difference. Would GPS devices work better than a iPhone GPS? Any scientists here?

Plus in response to the concerns regarding the over technicalization of this pure sport. I've been interested in the tracking because like some of the other responders here, I'm trying to figure how straight I'm going. Plus I'm interested to see if my perceived effort matches my measured effort. (And yes, I check the pace clock in a pool, so I guess old habits die hard...)

jbs · July 2016

I have the Suunto Ambit -- the one that tracks temperature. The main point of it to me is to see how straight (or not) I am swimming and get some information about the swim, particularly in terms of temperature, stroke rate, and pace. The temperature is particularly useful, since it gives measurements throughout the swim.

curly · September 2016

More GPS foolishness from me. I got sick of towing my phone in a bag and once I learned how far my route was, it was kind of pointless. I swim near a swim area and there are bouys, so that's how I marked my distances. At the end of summer they took out the bouys, so I'm swimming a modified course. I wanted to re figure my distances so I thought I'd try out a different app called mapmyrun. It's ok and way more technical than I really want, but it's fun to play around with.

So here's the weird part. I'm getting a consistent elevation change from one end of the course to the other. It's about 8' difference over a quarter mile. The thing that is funny is that I've always felt that one direction is downhill. I've always attributed that to prevailing wind and possible current. But this elevation data really has got me puzzled. Is it possible that water piles up in one area more than another? This is a lake with a creek that feeds into it. There usually is a mild wind blowing across. I can't get my head around this at all.

wendyv34 · September 2016

I have my doubts about the altitude accuracy on those GPS gadgets. My Suunto Traverse shows weird elevation fluctuations (+/- 3m), more than what waves or tides would account for (during a ~2 hour swim). I leave it on the boat with Pete, because it doesn't track accurately when I wear it on my wrist, plus, I hate wearing watches. I believe this model was designed for hiking, so I wouldn't recommend it for swimming, although it has done the job it was intended for, tracking distance and time from the boat.

JenA · September 2016

There is another contender: Apple Watch Series 2.

It is now waterproof to 50m, has GPS and pool/open water programming. Apple metabolically tested some 700+ swimmers of all body types/abilities to give accurate estimates of calories burned, and they state that the watch will learn your stroke efficiency, and refine its algorithm so the calorie counting is fairly accurate for you, for that swim. I think it could become an interesting metric of swim workout quality, especially for repeated workouts.

Product announcement: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=smT6kFlacM8

curly · September 2016

Thank you @Niek. I now know more than I ever imagined about GPS. I will ignore my elevation readings as they seem to just be noise that confuses my brain. I am going to continue with the assumption that I am always swimming uphill... ;)

WarmWater · September 2016

I bought the Garmin 10 forerunner as my running gps 2-3 years ago, it works well out of the water but is now getting a bit stiff to use due to swimming, I fear the end is neigh. The bigger problem - for me at least - is satellite availability. It can take 5 minutes to log on which when you're wanting to start a run, swim or bike is a l.o.n.g time. I don't know if it's the watches fault or the fact I sit on the equator in a boring part of the world and there aren't many sats etc.. I can't say that the G10 performed well in the water either, I suspect being on my wrist underwater half the time is to blame however I don't wear a swim cap.

I generally find I run, bike and swim the same few routes and over time I know how far they are, so really I just need a timing device. For pool swimming a bezel is important for lap counting, otherwise a quick glance at the clock or watch is sufficient for me.

I just bought this budget watch: good looking and functional. I wish I could say the same about myself.

https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-SNE107P2-Rubber-Analog-Black/dp/B005HJQY22/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1474361505&sr=8-4&keywords=seiko+diver+quartz

Spacemanspiff · September 2016

Niek said:

The U.S. government is committed to providing GPS to the civilian community at the performance levels specified in the GPS Standard Positioning Service (SPS) Performance Standard.

Well in that case, it must be true... And successful. I can go back to waiting for the postal service to deliver the reimbursement check from the health insurer that I got to keep because I liked them. Oh. Wait...

JenA · September 2016

@JenA said: There is another contender: Apple Watch Series 2.

Here's a swimmer's review: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/09/23/apple-watch-swimming/

phodgeszoho · September 2016

Quick question for anyone with a Suunto. Can you export or download the GPS tracks recorded as a GPX file?

kejoyce · September 2016

@phodgeszoho Yes, you can export as a GPX very easily (also exports as KML, XLSX, FIT, or TCX format).

GPS watches for tracking distance and time of open water swims

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