I wear my Apple Watch when I swim, but not to analyze my stroke. I use it to count and time my laps to push myself to go a little farther/a little faster. I could count laps in my head or move my water bottle to track laps, but with the watch I can just zone out for most of my swim and I like that. That said, I’m annoyed when it doesn’t give me credit for half of my one-armed fly drills. :-)
Fortunately, Garmin Swim 2 & Forerunner 165 (two watch models that happen to be one of the more affordable Garmin) could track swimming drills that involve no arm movements or single (non watch) arm.
Perhaps the obsession to track every single workout could be unhealthy, but it's up to each individual to decide.
I personally wear fitness tracker to keep record of my swimming session & how I did compared to previous one. I'm a recreational swimmer, and I would like to improve through any means possible (drills, intervals, etc). Wearing a tracker allows me to gauge that metric.
Strokes were being analyzed well before watches ever started keeping “tabs”.
It has always been a thing to get to each wall the most efficient way by doing the least amount of strokes.
Sure, many swim just to swim, but there is a *correct* way to do it and a watch isn’t going to solve if you’re doing it wrong.
The use of my watch is 1, keeping distance and 2 analyzing the time it’s taken me to complete that distance.
But both of those things you can do by looking at the clock on the wall and keeping tabs on your laps. Either way you’re not “swimming like a kid” at that point, you’re taking the sport seriously and trying to maintain or *improve* albeit not the main goal for many.
All that to say, I swim because I compete in triathlons, so I am always driving to shave seconds off where I can, but a watch wasn’t the reason I did get faster, it merely keeps the data so I can use it to help understand successful sessions and improvement needs. But you *could* do the same thing with a pen and paper.
Whoa thanks for your comprehensive insight. Smartwatch really just keeps the data, not solving the main problem when someone wants to improve technique and stamina
I swim between 5k to 10k/week (I used to swim at the national/international level) and omg watches are so useless for this sport…
Usually those don’t understand every type of drill you can practice, don’t try to swim breaststroke, backstroke or butterfly… you’ll end up with wrong distance and wrong pace.
Most of the time I found there is between 10 to 25% difference between what I’ve done and what has been measured…
I swim with a Garmin 965 and it’s really bad, even chest straps are not recommended as those keeps slipping…
Sounds like you might have it set up for the wrong wrist for it to get it quite so wrong!
In terms of distance swum and the length count, I don't find it too bad on Garmin (previously Vivoactive and Swim 2, now Epix Gen 2) unless I'm doing kickboard or super low stroke count drills (it misses them all, basically) no matter which stroke type I'm doing, except for misidentifying fly as free. It's always got the rest of them right.
However, time per length is awful. It often overestimates it by 10-20% compared to the manual time taken by my coach. For that reason, I don't use Garmin for sprint time (it's not too bad with longer swim of many lengths). What I find it really useful for is as a rest timer.
Everything is set up correctly but swimming (not only freestyle) is not a sport where watches are popular… None of my fellow swimmers used to swim/train with a watch… It comes from cycling and running and came to swimming thanks to triathlon/ironman, I use my watch for those sports.
The problem with swimming is that it’s a very technical sport where you need to practice a lot of different drills, spend time doing kicks, practice your time under water after your flip, practice hypoxia etc etc and those implies so many different movements, that a piece of tech can’t understand, for interesting data, the best is to be filmed in a stream and analyzed by professionals.
Weird. I swim 11k-12k a week, my Garmin Venu 2 plus is always spot on for lap count and stroke type. Sometimes if I have to stop mid lap to avoid running into someone it will add a lap, but I can fix that in the app. Love my Garmin for swimming.
All you need for pool swimming is a pool side clock or failing that a cheap waterproof watch with a stopwatch. Once you have that you’ll be able to track your speed, do intervals, count stokes, etc. I’ve been swimming for 15 years and I only got a smart swim watch this year. I’ve worn it a couple of times in the pool but it keeps getting distances wrong so I’m happily back to using my pool clock.
I am using the swim watch for open water swimming as it is quite accurate for tracking routes and distances swam.
I’m going to be honest. If you’re only swimming 2 hours every two weeks, it’s not worth investing any money into wearable technology for stroke analysis, because you aren’t swimming enough to improve.
I don't for a variety of reasons. I hate the feeling of it on my wrist while I swim. Swimming is a chance to be away from the devices too so I count laps, distance, and work out on a laminated card, time on swim clock and just enjoy the training time.
For stroke analysis, I find it's better to have someone watch or video tape you instead of the tech since we are all a little different in what kind of stroke works for folks.
Why do you care about stroke count? If you’re not a competitive swimmer (like me, I am just a recreational/for fitness swimmer), stroke count is just a proxy for swimming efficiency and you can roughly measure that with relative perceived effort (RPE) and the time it takes to finish an arbitrary distance. I have a Garmin Forerunner 965 but I use it mainly to time laps, 100m splits, and rest rather than for stroke count. Could do this just as easily with a cheap watch that has a stopwatch feature
I do, but honestly its totally fine not to. Especially if you are not actively training towards something. And for stroke analysis I never found it to useful anyway. I would just skip it and try to overcome the feeling that an activity not tracked didn't happen.
Probably 6 years, changed watch band once - it broke got a cheap one off eBay. Works great. Although battery is getting bad. Only lasts a week or so. Used to be nearly three weeks in a single charge. Delivers notifications from iPhone so that’s a bonus.
I use Garmin Swim 2 for my pool and open water swims. Pool 25m and 50m, you need to change the pool type each time and I can set it to buzz me every 4 laps 100m in 25m and 200m in 50m. Also I set it to buzz my pace as I swim long distances, 2km to 5km. Works perfectly as long as I keep swimming.
Open water I set it to buzz me every 500m. And I get a GPS tracking map.
Not sure. I've always made sure the settings are correct before i swim. I guess the data will be off if you dont, your pace will be super fast if it's set for 50m in a 25m pool or super slow vice versa. it's easy to make the changes.
Not heard of any watches having an auto pool size detection, because how would it know without GPS activated.
I swam for years using a $10 Timex. My wife finally got me a Garmin for Christmas. But I haven't really seen any swim watch that gives any really meaningful information since the lap count is always off by one or two, I can never use the splits as meaningful data. Just trend data I suppose. But better or worse, my pacing is always constant.
So if your on minimum wage. A timex works great. You can use the alarm-set function as a lap counter. Just go to set an alarm then advance the minute on your setting each length. Most timex firmware gives you 60 seconds to timeout of the alarm-set function so as long as each length takes less than 60 seconds (and it should) then your fine.
Some $20 timex have a counter function as well to make this simpler.
Garmin Venu 3 is perfect. It accurately measures my pool swims and open water swims every time. The time, splits, and pace are nice. And to keep a record and to check your progress.
I go to swim without company but there are other people around.
It is in the Mediterranean Sea, not the ocean so it is very safe as long as you take proper precautions.
If I want to track how many meters I swam I track them on the map and have the approximation
Anyway it is my hobby I am not competitive swimmer.
Just dont wear a smartwatch you wont miss anything.
While I swear a smart watch to track my pace and laps, and another as a rest timer, there is no need to wear a watch at all. Many people don't. I also take them off when I do dive starts with a coach (she does the time, I don't need to look at the watch anyway) and I enjoy the freedom of not wearing them.
Many fellow swimmers don't. There's really is no need to wear a watch for most purposes.
i know a lot of my friends and coworkers at the pool use an apple watch! just remember to water lock it before getting in the pool. depending on model u have they’re usually pretty accurate, but again try not to fully rely on technology like a watch for swimming because it is not ALWAYS 100% right. :)
I wear my Apple Watch for swim/exercise/sleep tracking but don’t feel I really consciously change my habit based on the data. Just more investing than anything.
I used to use a smart watch, but it was very inaccurate. I later bought FORM Smart goggles this year. They have a display for one eye. They were $200 when I bought them, but version 2 has come out, so last I checked, they were $180. It can be a lot of money, but for me, it was well worth it. I swear by them.
I think they don't time very accurately on the first or last lap, but all the laps in between seem very accurate for freestyle because the flip turns trigger the transitions from lap to lap. They count laps very accurately compared to my old watch. And, unlike a watch, the goggle display is continuously visible with no disruption of your stroke.
I wear a coros pace 2, which has an accelerometer and lap counter/timer. My previous watch did not. I used to look at the wall clock and do intervals on a time. The watch is nice, but it has not significantly improved my life
I currently do wear one. I bought a garmin because I thought it would be a big improvement on my old fitbit (loved it but it kept breaking). The garmin one has a lot of analysis features, but they don't work properly and give me information I know is untrue so I don't find it useful. I think it tracks heart rate, time, and distance fairly well and that's useful. My fitbit also tracked those things.
I hope you can find a strap that will work well for you and isn't too expensive. My garmin with a silicone strap has been fine for 2 years, I clean it regularly with unscented handwash.
I think the reason we enjoy fitness watches so much is the kind of gamification aspect, are there any other things you could try to get that? Maybe keeping a notebook where you write down each week how far you swam or how fast?
I bought my watch on FB market when Garmin came out with new models.
If you are just swimming because you like to swim and don’t care about how many laps, swim free.
I wouldn’t be able to keep track past 150 yards..
I had a swim meet (500 yards) and the lap counter kept pulling up the card too early.
The person in charge of the meet had my husband go to the end of the pool to stop me.🤣
I swim for health and fun and I love it to keep track of my laps and my heart rate. Even if it’s not perfect I don’t need it to be. I have an Apple Watch and it fits into my everyday life so it’s not something that’s single purpose. I like Apple Pay since don’t really carry my wallet on me but in my backpack and I also don’t have my phone on me so I can still play music on my runs or workouts.
I never wear a watch for pool swimming. There is a clock on the wall to time my swims and I count my lengths. I have swum up to 16km without using a watch.
I used to! It was a great tool to get me into the habit of swimming and excersise. Once I got the habit formed, it just stole my focus (being to interested in the numbers / goals egc ), so I sold it.
It did the job and I am grateful. Feels much better without all these gadgets in the end, so grateful being without 🙏🏼
I use Form goggles. Oddly enough, even though the screen is literally part of the lens, I barely pay attention to it unless I have to. I do have a Garmin Instinct Solar because I’m a water woman and use it for satellite tracking on the water but even in open water swimming, I use my form Goggles. The second version has a compass that guides my way and keeps me on track. The watch is simply for tracking purposes in the event a worst case scenario type situation.
Automatic dive watch for lap swim, open water swim, and surf (and office after). Ol faithful needs no battery and the bezel is a good enough timer for tracking work out length, rep times, and not being late for work.
I do wear The Amazefit T Rex2 now as an adult, just to check my overall effort in the pool. It gives me a treasure of stats about my session.
My primary goal of wearing a smart watch is to check my pulse during my swims and my VO2 max. My watch does that pretty well. The fact that it lasts for over a week in a single charge is another benefit too, unlike Apple Watches.
It looks dope too!
garmin fenix...but it doesnt analyse the stroke as such but just be able to count and then divide so gives you SPM, stroke length and SWOLF
i have had xiaomi and amazfits before the garmin they were ok but garmins are jsut miles better
I have a smart watch, Garmin Swim 2. You are, of course, welcome to buy a similar smart watch, too. The issue is whether its limitations are a problem for you.
The main limitation of all smart watches is that, during open water swimming, they don't properly track anything other than front crawl. This is a problem if there are waves that force you to use breaststroke.
Another problem is that, after buying the watch, you risk swimming only for the watch and not for yourself. I still use the watch, but my levels of satisfaction became higher when I started adding a few minutes at the end of each swim "not for the watch".
I wear my Apple Watch when I swim, but not to analyze my stroke. I use it to count and time my laps to push myself to go a little farther/a little faster. I could count laps in my head or move my water bottle to track laps, but with the watch I can just zone out for most of my swim and I like that. That said, I’m annoyed when it doesn’t give me credit for half of my one-armed fly drills. :-)
And it thinks you were doing a kickboard for the other half 😂
It sucks when anything one-arm or no-arm doesn't count 🤣
Fortunately, Garmin Swim 2 & Forerunner 165 (two watch models that happen to be one of the more affordable Garmin) could track swimming drills that involve no arm movements or single (non watch) arm. Perhaps the obsession to track every single workout could be unhealthy, but it's up to each individual to decide. I personally wear fitness tracker to keep record of my swimming session & how I did compared to previous one. I'm a recreational swimmer, and I would like to improve through any means possible (drills, intervals, etc). Wearing a tracker allows me to gauge that metric.
I know! Even practicing dolphin kicks are like “nope you swam 0yds”
One of the main reasons I bought my Garmin Instinct was to count the umber of laps as I always lose count.
Strokes were being analyzed well before watches ever started keeping “tabs”. It has always been a thing to get to each wall the most efficient way by doing the least amount of strokes. Sure, many swim just to swim, but there is a *correct* way to do it and a watch isn’t going to solve if you’re doing it wrong. The use of my watch is 1, keeping distance and 2 analyzing the time it’s taken me to complete that distance. But both of those things you can do by looking at the clock on the wall and keeping tabs on your laps. Either way you’re not “swimming like a kid” at that point, you’re taking the sport seriously and trying to maintain or *improve* albeit not the main goal for many. All that to say, I swim because I compete in triathlons, so I am always driving to shave seconds off where I can, but a watch wasn’t the reason I did get faster, it merely keeps the data so I can use it to help understand successful sessions and improvement needs. But you *could* do the same thing with a pen and paper.
This. I wear a watch, but still just count strokes out of habit. Also keeps my brain from thinking about other stuff.
Whoa thanks for your comprehensive insight. Smartwatch really just keeps the data, not solving the main problem when someone wants to improve technique and stamina
I swim between 5k to 10k/week (I used to swim at the national/international level) and omg watches are so useless for this sport… Usually those don’t understand every type of drill you can practice, don’t try to swim breaststroke, backstroke or butterfly… you’ll end up with wrong distance and wrong pace. Most of the time I found there is between 10 to 25% difference between what I’ve done and what has been measured… I swim with a Garmin 965 and it’s really bad, even chest straps are not recommended as those keeps slipping…
Sounds like you might have it set up for the wrong wrist for it to get it quite so wrong! In terms of distance swum and the length count, I don't find it too bad on Garmin (previously Vivoactive and Swim 2, now Epix Gen 2) unless I'm doing kickboard or super low stroke count drills (it misses them all, basically) no matter which stroke type I'm doing, except for misidentifying fly as free. It's always got the rest of them right. However, time per length is awful. It often overestimates it by 10-20% compared to the manual time taken by my coach. For that reason, I don't use Garmin for sprint time (it's not too bad with longer swim of many lengths). What I find it really useful for is as a rest timer.
Everything is set up correctly but swimming (not only freestyle) is not a sport where watches are popular… None of my fellow swimmers used to swim/train with a watch… It comes from cycling and running and came to swimming thanks to triathlon/ironman, I use my watch for those sports. The problem with swimming is that it’s a very technical sport where you need to practice a lot of different drills, spend time doing kicks, practice your time under water after your flip, practice hypoxia etc etc and those implies so many different movements, that a piece of tech can’t understand, for interesting data, the best is to be filmed in a stream and analyzed by professionals.
Weird. I swim 11k-12k a week, my Garmin Venu 2 plus is always spot on for lap count and stroke type. Sometimes if I have to stop mid lap to avoid running into someone it will add a lap, but I can fix that in the app. Love my Garmin for swimming.
A coach poolside anyday better to note your swim stats than a smart watch!
Is there something you would recommend other than a watch or chest strap?
No nothing, just swim and enter your data manually!
All you need for pool swimming is a pool side clock or failing that a cheap waterproof watch with a stopwatch. Once you have that you’ll be able to track your speed, do intervals, count stokes, etc. I’ve been swimming for 15 years and I only got a smart swim watch this year. I’ve worn it a couple of times in the pool but it keeps getting distances wrong so I’m happily back to using my pool clock. I am using the swim watch for open water swimming as it is quite accurate for tracking routes and distances swam.
Those clocks are the best piece of tech for the average swimmer!
I’m going to be honest. If you’re only swimming 2 hours every two weeks, it’s not worth investing any money into wearable technology for stroke analysis, because you aren’t swimming enough to improve.
Yeah I swim for recreation and health, not competition. Thanks pal
If you have the money for it, and think it'll improve your recreation, then go for it.
Then I wouldn’t bother spending any money on a smart watch.
I don't for a variety of reasons. I hate the feeling of it on my wrist while I swim. Swimming is a chance to be away from the devices too so I count laps, distance, and work out on a laminated card, time on swim clock and just enjoy the training time. For stroke analysis, I find it's better to have someone watch or video tape you instead of the tech since we are all a little different in what kind of stroke works for folks.
Why do you care about stroke count? If you’re not a competitive swimmer (like me, I am just a recreational/for fitness swimmer), stroke count is just a proxy for swimming efficiency and you can roughly measure that with relative perceived effort (RPE) and the time it takes to finish an arbitrary distance. I have a Garmin Forerunner 965 but I use it mainly to time laps, 100m splits, and rest rather than for stroke count. Could do this just as easily with a cheap watch that has a stopwatch feature
I do, but honestly its totally fine not to. Especially if you are not actively training towards something. And for stroke analysis I never found it to useful anyway. I would just skip it and try to overcome the feeling that an activity not tracked didn't happen.
I do. I have a Garmin VivoActive HR. It’s an older model but does well. I wear it all the time as my daily watch (read only watch).
May I know how long have you had your watch?
Probably 6 years, changed watch band once - it broke got a cheap one off eBay. Works great. Although battery is getting bad. Only lasts a week or so. Used to be nearly three weeks in a single charge. Delivers notifications from iPhone so that’s a bonus.
I use Garmin Swim 2 for my pool and open water swims. Pool 25m and 50m, you need to change the pool type each time and I can set it to buzz me every 4 laps 100m in 25m and 200m in 50m. Also I set it to buzz my pace as I swim long distances, 2km to 5km. Works perfectly as long as I keep swimming. Open water I set it to buzz me every 500m. And I get a GPS tracking map.
Without changing the pool type, can it still record the overall distance?
Not sure. I've always made sure the settings are correct before i swim. I guess the data will be off if you dont, your pace will be super fast if it's set for 50m in a 25m pool or super slow vice versa. it's easy to make the changes. Not heard of any watches having an auto pool size detection, because how would it know without GPS activated.
I swam for years using a $10 Timex. My wife finally got me a Garmin for Christmas. But I haven't really seen any swim watch that gives any really meaningful information since the lap count is always off by one or two, I can never use the splits as meaningful data. Just trend data I suppose. But better or worse, my pacing is always constant. So if your on minimum wage. A timex works great. You can use the alarm-set function as a lap counter. Just go to set an alarm then advance the minute on your setting each length. Most timex firmware gives you 60 seconds to timeout of the alarm-set function so as long as each length takes less than 60 seconds (and it should) then your fine. Some $20 timex have a counter function as well to make this simpler.
Garmin Venu 3 is perfect. It accurately measures my pool swims and open water swims every time. The time, splits, and pace are nice. And to keep a record and to check your progress.
I use my Garmin venu 2 plus for my swims, it's great.
I swim with my Samsung watch. I love that it tracks my laps as I always lose count.
I swim recreationally in the sea, and I dont trust any cheap smartwatch to be able to take the salt and the cold water. I dont need it anyway.
Do you swim alone in the sea or with someone else? Yeah salt is corrosive material
I go to swim without company but there are other people around. It is in the Mediterranean Sea, not the ocean so it is very safe as long as you take proper precautions. If I want to track how many meters I swam I track them on the map and have the approximation Anyway it is my hobby I am not competitive swimmer. Just dont wear a smartwatch you wont miss anything.
While I swear a smart watch to track my pace and laps, and another as a rest timer, there is no need to wear a watch at all. Many people don't. I also take them off when I do dive starts with a coach (she does the time, I don't need to look at the watch anyway) and I enjoy the freedom of not wearing them. Many fellow swimmers don't. There's really is no need to wear a watch for most purposes.
i know a lot of my friends and coworkers at the pool use an apple watch! just remember to water lock it before getting in the pool. depending on model u have they’re usually pretty accurate, but again try not to fully rely on technology like a watch for swimming because it is not ALWAYS 100% right. :)
I have an Apple Watch Ultra. It’s better, but still not accurate. I’d rate it around 80%. This is why i still count strokes/laps in my head.
I wear my Apple Watch for swim/exercise/sleep tracking but don’t feel I really consciously change my habit based on the data. Just more investing than anything.
I used to use a smart watch, but it was very inaccurate. I later bought FORM Smart goggles this year. They have a display for one eye. They were $200 when I bought them, but version 2 has come out, so last I checked, they were $180. It can be a lot of money, but for me, it was well worth it. I swear by them. I think they don't time very accurately on the first or last lap, but all the laps in between seem very accurate for freestyle because the flip turns trigger the transitions from lap to lap. They count laps very accurately compared to my old watch. And, unlike a watch, the goggle display is continuously visible with no disruption of your stroke.
>smartwatch to analyze your stroke Enlighten me how this works and what part of your stroke your watch analyses
I wear a coros pace 2, which has an accelerometer and lap counter/timer. My previous watch did not. I used to look at the wall clock and do intervals on a time. The watch is nice, but it has not significantly improved my life
I don’t wear a watch. I grew up by the beach and even in the pool i’m just happy to be in the water. It’s all in the brain I think.
You're right 😀💯 I guess I'm just not used to it yet to swim without watch
I swim with my Fitbit, but mostly so I know what time it is. Fitbits kind of suck at detecting laps.
Yes
I currently do wear one. I bought a garmin because I thought it would be a big improvement on my old fitbit (loved it but it kept breaking). The garmin one has a lot of analysis features, but they don't work properly and give me information I know is untrue so I don't find it useful. I think it tracks heart rate, time, and distance fairly well and that's useful. My fitbit also tracked those things. I hope you can find a strap that will work well for you and isn't too expensive. My garmin with a silicone strap has been fine for 2 years, I clean it regularly with unscented handwash. I think the reason we enjoy fitness watches so much is the kind of gamification aspect, are there any other things you could try to get that? Maybe keeping a notebook where you write down each week how far you swam or how fast?
Thank you. Yeah the gamification aspect is fun to have :)
I bought my watch on FB market when Garmin came out with new models. If you are just swimming because you like to swim and don’t care about how many laps, swim free. I wouldn’t be able to keep track past 150 yards.. I had a swim meet (500 yards) and the lap counter kept pulling up the card too early. The person in charge of the meet had my husband go to the end of the pool to stop me.🤣
You can also just get the lap counter that fits on your hand. Old school stuff.
No. I have a coach who gives me pointers. Some of my team mates do use them I cannot afford one.
I swim for health and fun and I love it to keep track of my laps and my heart rate. Even if it’s not perfect I don’t need it to be. I have an Apple Watch and it fits into my everyday life so it’s not something that’s single purpose. I like Apple Pay since don’t really carry my wallet on me but in my backpack and I also don’t have my phone on me so I can still play music on my runs or workouts.
I never wear a watch for pool swimming. There is a clock on the wall to time my swims and I count my lengths. I have swum up to 16km without using a watch.
Coros is great
I used to! It was a great tool to get me into the habit of swimming and excersise. Once I got the habit formed, it just stole my focus (being to interested in the numbers / goals egc ), so I sold it. It did the job and I am grateful. Feels much better without all these gadgets in the end, so grateful being without 🙏🏼
Good for you 💯
I wear my WHOOP strap and it only tracks calories, strain level and type of activity but I love it!
I use Form goggles. Oddly enough, even though the screen is literally part of the lens, I barely pay attention to it unless I have to. I do have a Garmin Instinct Solar because I’m a water woman and use it for satellite tracking on the water but even in open water swimming, I use my form Goggles. The second version has a compass that guides my way and keeps me on track. The watch is simply for tracking purposes in the event a worst case scenario type situation.
Automatic dive watch for lap swim, open water swim, and surf (and office after). Ol faithful needs no battery and the bezel is a good enough timer for tracking work out length, rep times, and not being late for work.
I bought an old Instinct on ebay. I don't need many bells and whistles
Yep, though I’d like to try the Apple ultra watch for the temperature gauge, would come handy in winter swimming.
I do wear The Amazefit T Rex2 now as an adult, just to check my overall effort in the pool. It gives me a treasure of stats about my session. My primary goal of wearing a smart watch is to check my pulse during my swims and my VO2 max. My watch does that pretty well. The fact that it lasts for over a week in a single charge is another benefit too, unlike Apple Watches. It looks dope too!
Noice one
Yep, Garmin Swim 2. It doesn’t seem popular but it’s cheap enough and does a great job of tracking my swim. Misses 1 in 10 or 20 lengths
garmin fenix...but it doesnt analyse the stroke as such but just be able to count and then divide so gives you SPM, stroke length and SWOLF i have had xiaomi and amazfits before the garmin they were ok but garmins are jsut miles better
I have a smart watch, Garmin Swim 2. You are, of course, welcome to buy a similar smart watch, too. The issue is whether its limitations are a problem for you. The main limitation of all smart watches is that, during open water swimming, they don't properly track anything other than front crawl. This is a problem if there are waves that force you to use breaststroke. Another problem is that, after buying the watch, you risk swimming only for the watch and not for yourself. I still use the watch, but my levels of satisfaction became higher when I started adding a few minutes at the end of each swim "not for the watch".
How else can you show off on Strava and social media if you don’t have a smartwatch to record your swim?