Часы для плавания в бассейне Garmin Swim

No problems with either method (flip or open turn). In general, the biggest ticket for getting accurate lap data for either watch is a strong push off the wall (since the unit measures changes in accelleration and direction).

1) When you’re not actively swimming back and forth, pause the timer. I know that there’s some guidance that says you can just keep it going, but honestly, that’s wrong. If you’re standing at the wall waiting for your next set – just pause the timer. That tells the watch to stop looking at whether or not you should be swimming. And thus, it won’t increment the distance until you press start.

2) Separate out your laps/sets using the lap button. If my workout calls for 1000y warm-up, then a 500y build, then a slew of 100’s, I’m going to press lap between each section. Thus, at the 1000y marker I press lap to create that set. At the 500y marker, I press lap. And then after each 100y I press lap. In the case of the 100’s, I’ve got a short rest at the wall, so I FIRST press stop, then I press lap. If I pressed lap then stop, it would incorrectly start a new lap that I haven’t started swimming yet.

3) Be strong on your wall push-offs. Because the 910XT is looking for changes in acceleration, you want to ensure that you push off the wall strongly. Fast being the key. It doesn’t matter if you do a flip turn or an open turn (I vary sometimes for fun), it just matters that you do it with conviction. If you ever-so-slowly do a turn at the wall and make it more graceful than Ms. Daisy, the unit might never actually detect an acceleration change, and thus, no new lap.

4) Be aware that passing someone mid-line is an acceleration change: Folks have reported issues with sudden surges to pass another swimmer mid-way down a lane being counted as a new lap. This is an area where Garmin could improve the logic a bit, but my advice here is to try and ‘soften’ the acceleration/deceleration just a touch to not trigger it. I realize of course that when it comes time to pass someone mid-lane, the most important thing is doing it quickly – but just offering some options. Or, do it at the end of the lane (again, not always possible).

5) Pause when in drills: Because the unit is looking for one of the recognized stroke types, it will only be accurate when you’re doing one of those stroke types. So if you’re doing a bunch of drills with three pieces of swim equipment and look like a fish out of water, it’s best to pause the timer.

6) It won’t work if your arms aren’t moving: This goes hand in hand with the above, but if you’re doing kick-only drills, the unit simply won’t measure that distance. For these, I just pause the unit. The time is counted in total activity time, but it doesn’t try and incorrectly record laps (which it will, trust me).

7) Don’t leave the unit running when you go to the bathroom: I only mention this, because I got an upset e-mail from someone that indicated that the unit incorrectly added a lap when they went to the bathroom while leaving the timer running. I really wanted to note that technically they probably did go 50y round-trip, but decided against it. Again, remember, as your arm swings, it thinks your swimming. So as you get out of the pool, walk to the bathroom door, open the door, go to the bathroom, and do it all again in reverse, it’s prime time for the unit to think you’re swimming. Just pause, you’ll be happier later. :)