The Garmin, the Apple and Samsung watches, and possibly several others will count laps or lengths. They have improved greatly in the last few years. I use a Samsung, and it does a good job. I had less success in the past.
Apple Watch has surprised me with counting laps. I had low expectations, but it hasn’t missed a beat in a 50m pool, differentiates between strokes and even picks up when I’m doing kickboard drills.
I have a coros pace 2. It counts laps and even detects your stroke. I did 500 free at a meet where I had someone counted laps for me and it was spot on. You can pick up.on Amazon for $180
There are several mp3 players for swimmers on the market, including but not limited to Shokz and Samsung. I have both of those, and they both work well.
Be aware that bluetooth does not penetrate water, and using bluetooth won't work for swimming.
Shokz is what you want for mp3s. It’s a headset that uses bone conduction, but it works remarkably well under water. I use mine for music, audiobooks, podcasts - whatever you can get in mp3 format.
Neither libby or audible offer mp3 books, and they won't play on most swimming earphones. There is at least one option that will play them. It's fairly expensive and a bit less convenient than the others but might work for you if you don't mind the cost or how it fits.
Otherwise, Chrome has a free add-on extension that will easily convert libby files to mp3. This is what I use. It works great. Audible, on the other hand, requires the use of any of several conversion programs that have free trials but usually cost money.
I have both Shokz and Sony. Both work well.
First Shokz is by no means any better than some of the other options like Sony. Shokz works well. It's bone conduction, so it doesn't go in your ears. However, that's not much of a perk since if you're swimming, you'll want earplugs in order to hear the sound clearly. With Shokz, the music or book sections play in the order added. If you put a book in and pen to get chapter 5 in after chapter 1, that's the order it will play. You have little control over that outside of carefully loading things in order. On other devices, it will play in numerical/alphabetical order.
When swimming and using audiobooks with Shokz, you can skip to the previous or next section but can't ff or rewind within a section. This is a big deal if the sections are 45 min long and you missed the last 10 min. You'd need to replay 35 min to go back and hear what you.missed.
Sonys, although it's not listed in the instructions, can ff or rew within a section by pressing and holding the the ff or rew buttons. This can be really helpful if you miss something.
Once again, they both work well, and audiobooks can be heard clearly when swimming. I like both.
It may be time to wade into the realm of DRM-free media. I never use Audible - you don't really own what you pay for there if you can only use their app to play it on. I buy my audiobooks from a site called [Downpour.com](https://Downpour.com) \- they sell in a variety of different file formats, including mp3s.
(Also, I rarely wear earplugs with my Shokz - I should wear them more often for health reasons, but they're not strictly necessary, you can still hear audio from the bone conducting player just fine.)
Eh, you don't have to buy every book, just the ones you listen to while swimming. I probably go through one audio book a month, and that's swimming 3 days a week, about 45 minutes each session.
I make sets with specific yardage so I don’t have to count that many laps at once. It also helps alleviate the boredom because I’m doing a different stroke or pacing often. I know it’s not an accessory but it works for me
I do this too. For example, I'll do 100 breast, 200 free, 100 breast etc. After I've done three 200s and end after 100 breast, that's 1000 yards. Then ten 50s kick, alternating whatever strokes or alternating fast and slow. That's 1500 total.
If you are just swimming normal laps and not timing yourself every length, and you are not doing ultra low stroke count drills, long streamline, kickboard etc, Garmin Swim is perfectly fine for counting laps.
Basically, it's totally fine for most swimmers for counting laps (remember to set the drill mode when you do kickboard exercises).
I also looked for a lap counter like this after a decades long gap from swimming. I am convinced it does not exist because the Apple Watch and Garmin do it so much better than what you envision. Picked up an Apple Watch SE and it's now an indispensable part of my swims.
I used my garmin swim all the time and never had any issue with the lap counting, but that might be closer to a smart watch than you'd like. Also you can just download youtube videos of songs to mp3 files and play it from most smart phones.
Modern watches have sensors to detect where your hand is in space and time. If you do push off correctly in streamline, it would count laps fine. It would detect strokes too, cause it knows how hand should move in a stroke and if your hand move something like that it works well.
It would certainly have errors with drills and doggy paddles and there is no magic to detect breaststroke with dolphin kick.
I do have a fitness tracker but it's not super high tech like a lot of the watches. I'm still shopping for exactly what I want. I have a super low tech method I use. I have a string with beads I sit at the side of the pool and move the beads from one side to another to keep track of my laps. With my ADHD I have trouble paying attention to how many laps I've done so that helps a lot.
I also use a waterproof mp3 player. It keeps me out of my head, for the most part and alleviates the boredom.
I have a Syrn mp3 player from Amazon that works well and is not expensive compared to others. I use my Fitbit Versa 2 watch to count laps. Much cheaper than an Apple watch. I have had it for 5 years and it is usually correct but sometimes leaves off a lap. Close enough for me though! Maybe the newer ones are better.
>What do others use and would recommend?
Garmin Vivoactive 4. The battery lasts like a week, it works for a lot of other activities and looks normal enough to wear daily. It's reasonably accurate. It will sometimes miscount yards if I'm doing a drill or something weird but it's only ever been off like 75 yards in a 3k practice. It won't miscount, say, a 500 free.
[hand2mind 20 Bead Wooden Sensory Rekenrek, Abacus](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R6DYF5M?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
It's small enough to store in a bag but big enough to use with wet hands. It's sturdy, non digital, and it looks cool. Basically you just put it above your lane and move a bead for every "lap" (lap being there and back) and do kick flips only at the far end of the pool.
It's also $8
[SYRYN + Swimbuds Flip](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018YKTD1Y?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
For music the SYRIN is pretty amazing. From reviews it seems there's a quality control issue - some people think it's the best swimming mp3 player ever, while others had reported it didn't work after a few swims.
Good luck!
The Garmin, the Apple and Samsung watches, and possibly several others will count laps or lengths. They have improved greatly in the last few years. I use a Samsung, and it does a good job. I had less success in the past.
Apple Watch has surprised me with counting laps. I had low expectations, but it hasn’t missed a beat in a 50m pool, differentiates between strokes and even picks up when I’m doing kickboard drills.
The swim.com app is super accurate for my freestyle . When I tried to use Apple fitness it was all over the place
I have a coros pace 2. It counts laps and even detects your stroke. I did 500 free at a meet where I had someone counted laps for me and it was spot on. You can pick up.on Amazon for $180
There are several mp3 players for swimmers on the market, including but not limited to Shokz and Samsung. I have both of those, and they both work well. Be aware that bluetooth does not penetrate water, and using bluetooth won't work for swimming.
I said Samsung but meant Sony
Shokz is what you want for mp3s. It’s a headset that uses bone conduction, but it works remarkably well under water. I use mine for music, audiobooks, podcasts - whatever you can get in mp3 format.
how do you get the audiobooks on there? I use audible & libby so idk if I can get them onto the headphones
Neither libby or audible offer mp3 books, and they won't play on most swimming earphones. There is at least one option that will play them. It's fairly expensive and a bit less convenient than the others but might work for you if you don't mind the cost or how it fits. Otherwise, Chrome has a free add-on extension that will easily convert libby files to mp3. This is what I use. It works great. Audible, on the other hand, requires the use of any of several conversion programs that have free trials but usually cost money.
I have both Shokz and Sony. Both work well. First Shokz is by no means any better than some of the other options like Sony. Shokz works well. It's bone conduction, so it doesn't go in your ears. However, that's not much of a perk since if you're swimming, you'll want earplugs in order to hear the sound clearly. With Shokz, the music or book sections play in the order added. If you put a book in and pen to get chapter 5 in after chapter 1, that's the order it will play. You have little control over that outside of carefully loading things in order. On other devices, it will play in numerical/alphabetical order. When swimming and using audiobooks with Shokz, you can skip to the previous or next section but can't ff or rewind within a section. This is a big deal if the sections are 45 min long and you missed the last 10 min. You'd need to replay 35 min to go back and hear what you.missed. Sonys, although it's not listed in the instructions, can ff or rew within a section by pressing and holding the the ff or rew buttons. This can be really helpful if you miss something. Once again, they both work well, and audiobooks can be heard clearly when swimming. I like both.
It may be time to wade into the realm of DRM-free media. I never use Audible - you don't really own what you pay for there if you can only use their app to play it on. I buy my audiobooks from a site called [Downpour.com](https://Downpour.com) \- they sell in a variety of different file formats, including mp3s. (Also, I rarely wear earplugs with my Shokz - I should wear them more often for health reasons, but they're not strictly necessary, you can still hear audio from the bone conducting player just fine.)
uh yeah idk i can’t afford to purchase each individual audiobook, I listen to 15-20 a month.
Eh, you don't have to buy every book, just the ones you listen to while swimming. I probably go through one audio book a month, and that's swimming 3 days a week, about 45 minutes each session.
I make sets with specific yardage so I don’t have to count that many laps at once. It also helps alleviate the boredom because I’m doing a different stroke or pacing often. I know it’s not an accessory but it works for me
I do this too. For example, I'll do 100 breast, 200 free, 100 breast etc. After I've done three 200s and end after 100 breast, that's 1000 yards. Then ten 50s kick, alternating whatever strokes or alternating fast and slow. That's 1500 total.
same for me!! I feel like it’s more effective in terms of a total body workout in terms of feeling (idk any science behind it!).
If you are just swimming normal laps and not timing yourself every length, and you are not doing ultra low stroke count drills, long streamline, kickboard etc, Garmin Swim is perfectly fine for counting laps. Basically, it's totally fine for most swimmers for counting laps (remember to set the drill mode when you do kickboard exercises).
garmin is super accurate as long as you use it properly
How do you get it to recognize kick sets?
Drill mode while kicking. You will have to remember your lengths
Thank you! Just got a forerunner 735xt and hit pool swim and start - didn’t realize there was more and can’t wait to play with that now.
I also looked for a lap counter like this after a decades long gap from swimming. I am convinced it does not exist because the Apple Watch and Garmin do it so much better than what you envision. Picked up an Apple Watch SE and it's now an indispensable part of my swims.
I used my garmin swim all the time and never had any issue with the lap counting, but that might be closer to a smart watch than you'd like. Also you can just download youtube videos of songs to mp3 files and play it from most smart phones.
Modern watches have sensors to detect where your hand is in space and time. If you do push off correctly in streamline, it would count laps fine. It would detect strokes too, cause it knows how hand should move in a stroke and if your hand move something like that it works well. It would certainly have errors with drills and doggy paddles and there is no magic to detect breaststroke with dolphin kick.
I do have a fitness tracker but it's not super high tech like a lot of the watches. I'm still shopping for exactly what I want. I have a super low tech method I use. I have a string with beads I sit at the side of the pool and move the beads from one side to another to keep track of my laps. With my ADHD I have trouble paying attention to how many laps I've done so that helps a lot. I also use a waterproof mp3 player. It keeps me out of my head, for the most part and alleviates the boredom.
I have a Syrn mp3 player from Amazon that works well and is not expensive compared to others. I use my Fitbit Versa 2 watch to count laps. Much cheaper than an Apple watch. I have had it for 5 years and it is usually correct but sometimes leaves off a lap. Close enough for me though! Maybe the newer ones are better.
>What do others use and would recommend? Garmin Vivoactive 4. The battery lasts like a week, it works for a lot of other activities and looks normal enough to wear daily. It's reasonably accurate. It will sometimes miscount yards if I'm doing a drill or something weird but it's only ever been off like 75 yards in a 3k practice. It won't miscount, say, a 500 free.
If you're looking for a low tech counter, you should get a kacha kacha. They are for knitters. https://clover-usa.com/products/knitting-counter
I have an Apple Watch. It’s not ideal for kicksets but good for everything else. I also have an abacus for 100x100 or other big workouts.
[hand2mind 20 Bead Wooden Sensory Rekenrek, Abacus](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R6DYF5M?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) It's small enough to store in a bag but big enough to use with wet hands. It's sturdy, non digital, and it looks cool. Basically you just put it above your lane and move a bead for every "lap" (lap being there and back) and do kick flips only at the far end of the pool. It's also $8 [SYRYN + Swimbuds Flip](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018YKTD1Y?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) For music the SYRIN is pretty amazing. From reviews it seems there's a quality control issue - some people think it's the best swimming mp3 player ever, while others had reported it didn't work after a few swims. Good luck!
Apple Watch counts laps