Open water distance issues

forums.garmin.com/.../1103676

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/227626/gps-software-4-40-swimrun-ows-or-tracking?ReplySortBy=CreatedDate&ReplySortOrder=Descending

forums.garmin.com/.../something-is-clearly-wrong-with-open-water-swim-in-swimrun-mode

Thanks for that link but my issue is with open swim only, not swimrun.  By the way I think may know when this issue comes up.  On todays swim i stopped swimming without pressing stop just to see if I want to turn around. While I was not swimming and the watch is fully outside of water (I was also watching it to see how much distance i covered) I saw it, right in front of my eyes jump up 100 yards, then another and another.  Its as if it now got a clear GPS signal and is trying to adjust.  But this continued for a few seconds and accounted for about an extra 500 yards.  Then at another point, I stopped swimming for a second, again to look at the watch, it was around 1200 yards.  I have setup the watch to give me alerts every 500 yards and about 5 seconds after it showed 1200 yards (and I stopped) it vibrated indicating 1500 yards.  Point is, until I paused (stopped swimming but not the watch) the alerts came in at reasonable intervals, ie distance was captured fine.  As soon as I stopped, the watch freaked out and added a lot of distance.  So I think its the stopping that messes up the distance.  If you are so inclined, next time you do an open water swim try to just stop swimming (but dont stop the watch) and observe what happens.

The links primarily discuss open water swimming.

avikoren1 said:

Its as if it now got a clear GPS signal and is trying to adjust.  But this continued for a few seconds and accounted for about an extra 500 yards. 

That's exactly what happens when the watch has not had reasonable connection to the satellites while you've been swimming. One of two possible reasons:

1. Your technique is such that the watch has insufficient time to connect while you are swimming.
2. Your watch has a problem.

Either way, it will be worth your while to open a conversation with Garmin Connect.

FWIW, (and this will inevitably leave to some abuse being hurled in my direction) I have been swimming 3 to 4 times a week throughout our Summer mostly along a marked 2000m buoyed course with few problems. Even when the swimrun swim legs produced a more jagged track, the distance was still within cooee of the 2000m distance.

BTW, some of these swims do include stopping at one or more of the buoys for a chat and some are also straight through. Pretty much bet that the swims that are less than 50 minutes are straight through and ones over 50 minutes have had one or two stops.

When you stop, do you also press STOP on the watch?  I didn't since it was only going to be for 10 seconds or so but then the distance started drifting higher in a significant way.  If you do press STOP when you stop, try to stop swimming for maybe 30 seconds but don't STOP the watch.  I would be curious to see if the problem would repeat for you.

Also, while I was swimming, ie moving, I felt the watch was keeping track of distance fine, I can tell from the 500 yard alerts.  Its when I stop, with my hand out of the water that the watch seems to misbehave.

Thanks for this thread. I recently went for my first OWS with my Garmin fenix 6S Pro/Sapphire, and noticed something was off.

The fenix 6S indicated I swam 1,990 yards (~1.1 miles), but if I map out the swim course using Garmin Connect courses by 'Freehand' I get 0.55 miles. So it seems to be the fenix 6S credited me with twice the distance I actually swam?

Notes:

* I 'rested' a few times in the middle of the swim. Instead of hitting "stop", I hit the "lap" button so i could time my rests (either 1 or 2 mins).
* My lap data shows fairly significant distance traveled during my rests: a cumulative distance of 205 yards during a total of 8:21 rest time in very calm pond water with no current and no wind (I really doubt I floated that far, and in some cases that rest lap was touching ground in shallow water, e.g. no movement at all.).
* I really suck as a swimmer, and so what surprised me was how quickly I swam, thus the further investigation.
* I recently received my fenix 6S last week, so this is the first chance to swim with it.
* I had the device set for auto-update, and just a couple days ago it looked like it updated to firmware 10.10. Didn't have a chance to swim prior to this patch to comment whether the latest patch could be the cause of this issue.

avikoren1 said:

When you stop, do you also press STOP on the watch? 

No. At most I might press lap.

avikoren1 said:

Its when I stop, with my hand out of the water that the watch seems to misbehave.

That is a clear indication that the watch is not tracking the satellites very well while you are swimming. As noted, it's either technique or an issue with the watch.

What stroke do you swim?

Here is another case ... https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/233743/wrong-distance-measured-for-a-open-water-swimming-track-too-much?tempkey=25953051-0be3-44a2-bacc-70200ffa52f7

It’s not a new problem. You’ll also see similar with the 945/935/5+/5 etc. 

As I suggested, if it’s not the watch it’s the stroke. Freestyle (front crawl) should give the best results, breastroke the worst.

Talk with GARMIN Support.

I swim freestyle.  I also never had this issue with the F5, F3, etc.  This issue is not a minor distance of extra 100m or som this was huge, adding almost a full mile.  spoke to Garmin and they asked.

1.  Do you have 1 sec recording, I do and that's the desired setting.

2. They asked/suggested that you have GPS + one other. I have GPS plus Glonass so good there.

3. They asked/suggested I soak the GPS signal prior to open water swims.  This is something I need to try since I have been spoiled by the quick lock I generally remember starting the activity in the water, 10 seconds later when the watch gives me the green bar I go.  This is worth a try the next time I go for an open water swim.

avikoren1 said:

Do you have 1 sec recording, I do and that's the desired setting.

I do but remember neither 1s or Smart recording affect the distance recorded, only the track displayed.

avikoren1 said:

I have GPS plus Glonass so good there.

Me too but always worth trying a different one.

avikoren1 said:

They asked/suggested I soak the GPS signal prior to open water swims.

That's unrealistic and should not be necessary and frequently inconvenient especially during multisport events. How long are they suggesting you soak it for? If I'm swimming only I'll turn mine on while getting ready then walk down to the water press start and swim. Obviously not possible to do that during a swimrun session or a triathlon.

avikoren1 said:

I also never had this issue with the F5, F3, etc

Looks like you were one of the lucky ones then as there are plenty of reports of poor swimming with earlier models. The F5+ also has never really functioned properly in the open water.

But as we know, what works for some does not necessarily work for others.