swim watches

biomed32

Hi all, im looking to purchase a swim watch for myself for training purposes and motivation. I have been looking at three different models, Timex Ironman 150, speedo swimmovate pro and the garmin swim watch. Out of the three the Timex seems to be good value for money for counting laps but the garmin swim seems to provide detailed stats on a swim etc that you can hook up to a computer. Im asking this as I want to track progress as I have an idea for a charity event that Im thinking of organising and doing. Any and all help appreciated.

TO_ARTHUR!

They all look like good watches. I've been using a Casio G-Shock to time my swims for a while now. It isn't advanced as some of the swimwatches you mentioned there but it has a good stopwatch and as well as that it has a split-time function. Always found it to be a good watch.

Kurt Godel

I've a Garmin Swim, and am pretty happy with it. It's of most use for counting lengths on a long, steady swim. The screen is clear and is easy enough to read underwater. It hasn't dropped too many lengths in the month I've used it, and when it does its because of some variance in my stroke (stopping mid-length or whatever). Backstroke and breaststoke are mixed up for recognition, but I'm mainly doing freestyle anyway.

Analysing shorter reps is handy on the Garmin Connect website, but it can be difficult hitting the lap button at times, so that might add a second or two. There's no vibrate or buzzer function for mid-swim feedback, which I would have liked. The Garmin 910xt has this (as well as Open Water GPS tracking), but is more expensive and is prone to the screen fogging. If the fogging issue wasn't there, I'd have got the 910xt for OW data, but for a pool watch I'm happy with the Garmin Swim.

biomed32

Thanks mate, that helps, im a slow and steady swimmer, front crawl. I have gotten back into it. I want it for training and to monitor progress, particularly as Im thinking of doing and organising a charity swim which would be the distance from dover to calais, ie the channel swim haha. Thanks for the heads up

Kurt Godel wrote: »

I've a Garmin Swim, and am pretty happy with it. It's of most use for counting lengths on a long, steady swim. The screen is clear and is easy enough to read underwater. It hasn't dropped too many lengths in the month I've used it, and when it does its because of some variance in my stroke (stopping mid-length or whatever). Backstroke and breaststoke are mixed up for recognition, but I'm mainly doing freestyle anyway.

Analysing shorter reps is handy on the Garmin Connect website, but it can be difficult hitting the lap button at times, so that might add a second or two. There's no vibrate or buzzer function for mid-swim feedback, which I would have liked. The Garmin 910xt has this (as well as Open Water GPS tracking), but is more expensive and is prone to the screen fogging. If the fogging issue wasn't there, I'd have got the 910xt for OW data, but for a pool watch I'm happy with the Garmin Swim.

sconhome

+1 on the Garmin swim.

I've found having a very definite turn around on each length helps the watch recognise the start of a new lap. You can also use a rest timer to help you if you are doing swim sets off a particular rest period.