Swim 2 crashes and restarts during pool swim (Software Version 2.90)

Hello,

During my pool swim workouts, the Swim 2 watch will occasionally crash and restart itself. The result is that I will have an incomplete log of my workout. I purchased a Swim 2 at the end of November (2022). It has Software Update 2.90 (the latest available)

Details...

Product: Swim 2 watch

Software Version: 2.90 (latest available at time of this post)

When it happens:

  • I will swim a workout that has been created in Garmin Connect.
  • When pressing the lap button to complete an interval, the Swim 2 watch will sometimes crash/restart itself.
  • I have had it crash/restart when going to "save" a completed workout (but this is rarer)
  • I swim 5-6 times every week. It happens at least once in 3-4 of those workouts.

Why this is a problem:

  • After crash/restart, some data will be available in Garmin Connect but it will be incomplete.
  • The swim will not be logged on my watch display (showing distance)
  • Often, the last few lengths/intervals are missing from the workout.

Additional notes:

  • The v2.90 release notes for the Garmin Swim 2 software indicates "Fix occasional device reset upon completing a Garmin Connect swim workout" - this is clearly is NOT the case. The issue persists in v2.90.
    • I see that there are numerous forum posts of this crashing, but many are several months/years old. v2.90 still has this crashing issue.
  • I have tried disabling Bluetooth phone connections during my swims - this seems to have no affect on crashing/restarting
  • I do not have any third-party widgets installed. Only built-in Garmin widgets are installed
  • The distance and time duration of my swim do not seem to be a factor. I have had the watch crash during a short 400 yard swim and in the middle of a 3000 yard swim.

Current workaround (not ideal):

  • I now program several shorter workouts for a single session - so if I experience a crash/restart, I know I will not risk losing a larger portion of my workout data.
  • I have the same problem but in open water, the same software version 2.90.

    Garmin is aware of this issue and will repair/replace your watch free of charge if purchased less than 24 months ago.

    If more time has passed, they will replace it for about 120 euros/dollars

  • This is a software problem, so even if they replace the watch, it's not going to fix the problem. And there's absolutely no way I'm buying, or replacing with, another Garmin after this fiasco. They clearly have absolutely no interest in fixing the problem whatsoever.

  • Hi, I have same problem. Garmin Swim 2 with SW ver 2.90
    My Swim 2 crashed 2x yesterday during workout execution.
    Procedures is similar as already described above and in many more tickets, pressing lap button during workout with repetition.
    When I came home I started to search the internet and I found many posts connected to this issue, so I've tried "dry run", I've executed same workout sitting at my desk and pressing lap button ~20-30 sec after each activity started and I've got new crash on second repetitive activity in same workout also when I've pressed lap button on last execution of second repetition (as described in many posts).

    So, if it is so easy to reproduce this issue, I don't understand why Garmin support doesn't resolve this issue. I'm software developer and I have lot experience in maintaining different SW systems, 80% of trouble in solving the issue is reproduction of the issue and it is so easy to reproduce it.
    Also statement that it is HW issue and not a SW issue is also not correct, 99,9% of HW issues can be resolved by patches in SW. Returning all Garmin Swim 2watches to factory is huge cost.

  • i've the same issue, did u resolve?

  • It hasn't happened to me for the last 9 sessions. But I think that's probably just luck, and me doing shorter workouts more than anything. I was asked to be a beta tester after the last time I complained about it (24-Nov), but I haven't heard anything from them since then! Obviously they have nothing to test because they're not working on it.

  • I've contacted Garmin support and they have provided me with procedure for hard reset. It helped to resolve the issue but it shpwed up again after month - month and a half, so I've applied same procedure again.

    Here is the procedure:

    Last option would be to perform a master reset to see if any response. This will restore device back to defualt settings and remove all data from the watch. Sync to Garmin Connect prior to performing this action and then test.

    • Press and hold the upper left button for 40-60 seconds to power off the watch
    • Press and hold the upper right and lower right buttons at the same time
    • While pressing and holding the right side buttons, press and release the upper left button
    • Wait for a beep, then release the upper right button
    • Wait for a second beep, release the lower right button
    • The watch will reboot and ask the initial set up questions
  • Making a master reset every 1-1.5 months is overkill, totally unacceptable. Even if with some tricks you can spare the reconfiguration steps (save config files before master reset, after the reset copy config files into the newfiles directory, and restart the watch - or something similar, make your research if needed).

    If I am not mistaken, master reset can be performed from the menu itself, but I might be wrong.

    Garmin stopped the development and support of Swim2, they will never solve the workout crash problem. If you need this, choose a different model. (I do not use the workout feature, and do not have any crash issues either, so I am satisfied with this watch)

  • Hello,

    I had the same problem with version 2.90.
    Today I've updated my Garmin Swim2 to 3.10.

    Did you try to crash it on the new (3.10) version?

    Regards,
    Michal

  • Hi all,

    did you try the new software version (3.10) for the Garmin Swim2?

    Did it happen to you again with the new software version (3.10)?
    I've just instaled it today - so far nothing to share.

    Regards,
    Michal