open water

I tried my Swim2 in OW. Maybe I did something wrong (I hope!), but the result is very, very disappointing! I made a comparison with my FR910XT to see the difference, but I did not expect that the Swim2 will be totally out of distance. It seems that Swim2 inflates the distance to about 200%, resulting the double of distance what is real. I verified the distance on Google Maps, so FR910XT is good.

I swim front crawl, slow pace, but the old watch can handle it correctly.

At first try  I had an expired CPE file, but at the second try CPE was current, but the distance was stiil doubled. For me it seems that the main issue is a very violent GPS drift, increasing the distance very fast even if I stop.

GPS settings was GPS+GLONASS.

Does anyone have/had similar issues? Was the original 2.10 version better?

The same question will go to Garmin support as well.

Has Garmin Tech Support responded?

Yes, but I still have many problems. (they suggested to renew CPE file)

It turned out, that the main issue is not GPS drift, but watch losing the GPS signal often, and doubles the distance (one distance is from accelerometer data, and one distance is from occasionally found GSP data). The watch adds both data, causing massive over measurement. - I reported this bug, at least they forwarded it to the developers, lets hope for a fast solution.

My other problem is that even if I swim front crawl only, and CPE is current, the watch loses GPS signal very, very often.

Until now, after 3 swims, my summary is that Swim2 is good for activity tracking, but very bad for swimming, especially open water. I can not imagine how DCRainmaker could make such a review. All of my swims had massive problems with GPS singal.

Do I need to sync with the phone before the swim even if the CPE file is current? I use it only for swim, so watch is off for most of the time, and phone connection is switched off as well, as BT caused massive battery drain earlier.

It is spectacular at open water swimming.  Long term Garmin user and had this watch a couple of weeks, also got a friend with same results.

Now I agree, at OW measurement it is first class :) Just needed to tweak the settings.

May I ask what settings did you tweak? I usted it today for the first time at OW and it kept loosing GPS signal. It didn't record a single thing!

Thanks in advance

I am not sure about that, troubleshooting is still in progress. Please see the other similar topic

https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/garmin-swim-2/224900/ow-swim-gps-loss-always

What seems to work (I am not 100% sure, but today it worked - before that I made more tweaks, and lost OW tracks again for a while):

- perform a factory reset - system/reset/delete all

(maybe reset settings is enough, I do not know)

- after the reset, do NOT change data field settings, preferably do not change anything

Note that after the factory reset CPE file is missing - About, scroll to the end. Current CPE is necessary for quick satellite lock.

- sync with Garmin Express, to get a new CPE file. After that CPE will be current (or leave the watch outside with GPS on for about 20 minutes)

- go for an open water swim, enjoy the results

Please note, that factory reset deletes all of the user data from the watch. Some settings will be recovered from phone or Garmin Express sync

I guess that some of the pool swim data field setting might affect OW capabilities, but it is really a guess. I had many different theories earlier, all were busted so far :( .

Thanks so much. I'll give it a try!

Did you ever get this to work? My fenix 5s was awful open water (not great in the pool either) and I was thinking of getting the Swim2 but don’t want another garmin if I’m going to have the same problems. Seems like some watches work some don’t. 

I'm having lots of problems with my new Garmin Swim 2. Tracking is sometimes good ,but only if you keep it constantly above the waterline attached to tow float or goggles. I was appalled that Garmin 'help' suggested doing this to get an accurate track when I complained about problems. I am in dialogue and they are looking at the tracks I sent them now. I recognise all the problems below, over calculating distance, side drift, losing signal, on 'connect' the distances sometimes look ok on the data graphs but the map is nonsense, it has placed me a number of times crossing the equator and swimming through Mali, and Ghana. I live in the UK. Disappointed after the DC Rainmaker review rated it so highly. I think it's a piece of unreliable junk, until Garmin prove otherwise. The emphasis should not be on the customer to report and sort these bugs, garmin should be right on it or wait until ist sorted to release the product. Battery life is also poor for a dedicated top of the line GPS open water swim watch, especially compared to my previous Instinct model. Not happy...  I have used Swim 1 and Instinct models in the past.