Swimmers unite!

I had a garmin swim watch that counted strokes and everything in the pool, and even knew when you changed strokes. You can download geeky data too.

The only open water garmin is the 910xt which has GPS and maps and everything but it's a very pricey triathlon watch (£350) with bike sensor and everything. It's like having the 'mothership' strapped to your wrist. There are other GPs ones I think. I gave up with them cos I got anxious and started hating swimming and my stroke suffered as I tried to beat the watch.

Or That's my excuse for being lazy.

"NOTE: The Forerunner 620/220 will not track strokes, distance or any other swim metric. It was designed to be specifically a running watch." :(

oh it does (sort of) work, if anyone was wondering, I switched the GPS off but it logged it as a run

probably need some time with the manual

Heheeee, brilliant! Well done!!!!

I can tumble turn!!!!

Now I would 100,000000,000000 times rather swim in open water than a pool. Especially the sea. I just love it & have no fear of any bodies, fish or woo.

I have a very healthy respect for the power of the sea & always ask locals for knowledge before I swim anywhere I don't know but my idea of heaven is to swim in the deep blue globe encircling sea

omg Kaizen
now I've read your post I'm not even going in past my knee's again

I swim a lot in open water but get mad fears if I'm on my own about what's 'below'. I swim in the swimming area of our city harbour in summer and it's marked by buoys that you swim round. I swim round them like mad cos I can't bear to see the rope hanging down underneath, all dark n horrible. Sometimes I think about bodies floating up and grabbing my legs and then I could literally start screaming like a mad banshee. I nearly hit a piece of driftwood with my hand last year and I think I would have had a heart attack

I feel just the same about open water swimming :o
garmin swim aint all that accurate , I used to have to reverse engineer the data by extrapolating from the total number of strokes per session.
Fabulous graphs & chart though :o

open water? I tried swimming down the middle of the pool last week (ie: away from the edge) and had a complete fuck-I-can't-swim moment and started sinking in the deep end and the lifeguard was helpful but puzzled (having watched me power up and down for the last half an hour)

if I can't touch the floor I must be able to reach the sides! ok, will just count lengths and upload it manually, thanks!

Mitchy, I use garmin swim in the pool which has motion sensors to count lengths and strokes, the 220 looks like it uses GPS so I doubt it'd be that accurate unless you're swimming in open water?
(as opposed to back and forth in a 25m pool)

hello swimmers, anyone using a Garmin 220 in the pool? I know it's waterproof but does it work, or should I just count lengths (in between bouts of near-drowning)? thanks

Just been and done 44 lengths, which I know is not a lot by some of your standards, but is more than I've managed for ages (horrible cold, followed by busyness - last week I only managed one 20 minute swim!). Times are all different for half term, so it was very quiet and I had a lane to myself the whole time - lovely. DH has taken my DDs out and I am working at home, but spent the whole of yesterday bent over a laptop, and really needed the break - I feel much better for it.

No, I haven't had the nail thing. That sounds nasty - maybe you could try rubbing some hand and nail cream in well a little while before you swim, to try and protect them?

Anyone else suffer from awful fingernails as a result of being in the pool? Mine are so soft and split since I started swimming more than once a week. They weren't long to start wot but they're a disaster now

Yes magimedi my goal each week is a mile. BUT I'm on a time limit due to having to collect dd2 from the cm, so if the traffic is bad on the way from work to the pool sometimes I only have 40 mins instead of the hour I plan for and I can't do a mile in 40 mins. I'm pretty impressed I can do it in an hour tbh considering that I only started swimming regularly again in September and was only managing about 20 lengths then.

I've never heard of a postal swim eightytwenty it sounds interesting. I'd be able to do 1600m (because that's what I manage if I get a full hour in the pool on a weekly basis) so I'm very impressed that you did 2425m, that's loads!!

Those of you who are doing 64 lengths in a 25M pool are doing the mile, aren't you? Well done!

(Next goal looms).

I am pretty close to the big 6O so am even happier about this!

I go once a week or once a fortnight depending on all sorts of things. I do 64 lengths each time.

So sorry to hear about your pool, aristocat

Well done magimedi. I do somewhere between 40 and 64 lengths most weeks now.

I had to miss my swimming on Friday because I had to take dd1 to a trip, and I will have to miss this week as well because it's half term and I'm away with school.

I'm popping in for a not very stealth boast.. I started swimming regularly again 5 weeks ago & was doing 12/14 lengths before flaking out. I've just done 40 which is 1 K !! I am so pleased !!

I have heard that these are great for getting rid of water in your ears

like a herd of pigs

Sorry magi - I haven't got any earplug advice but my friend swears by wearing them - hope you find some.