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Michael Katz Author

Level 1

10 points

Swim lap account is inaccurate

I had a simple Garmin watch that couldn’t count swim laps if I use fins and limit arm strokes. With a shoulder injury I make sure to swim laps focusing on kicking. Turns out the Apple Watch 5 is just as inaccurate as the Garmin. If you don’t move your arms, the watch thinks you aren’t moving. So basically, all the stats are BS as the watch is counting arm stokes. It has no idea if you’re moving or not if you don’t Move your arms. I figured for 3x the price, the Apple Watch would be better. If you want an accurate lap counter get a $30 manual counter and click when you complete a lap. Swimming is too complex for apple 2021.

Apple Watch, watchOS 2

Posted on Jan 2, 2021 3:47 PM

Top-ranking reply

javaliga

Level 10

119,907 points

Posted on Jan 2, 2021 5:09 PM

For what its worth, from the "Get better results" section in:

Swim with your Apple Watch - Apple Support

"Pool Swim: When you start a workout, be sure to accurately set the pool length to help your Apple Watch measure laps and distance. GPS isn't used during a Pool Swim, and water might prevent a heart-rate measurement, but calories, laps, and distance will still be tracked using the built-in accelerometer."

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Swim lap account is inaccurate

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