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Apple Watch Ultra does not accurately record pool swim laps and distances

I am fairly active and have recently started using my Apple Watch Ultra V1 to track pool swimming workouts. At time is watch is close but not accurate and recently the watch does not properly track pool laps which is the main reason I swim with the watch. I have called support on this issue 4 times on this issue and received advice to send diagnostics, recalibrate the watch, ensure that I turn in the exact same direction on my turn. Defined the pool parameters accurately (I swim the same 25M short course each time) adjusted the watch so it’s High on the wrist and even applied a recent patch and none of these options have done much to improve the accuracy. For the first 300-400 the watch does an ok job However, over time it starts adding laps and distance so I can accurately keep track of the laps. Is the Apple Watch not good design for keep track of laps and I need another device in its place? Anyone else have this or a similar issue? I did find other threads outlying a similar problem with Apple Watch 5 and 6. Is this possibly fixed in the Ultra2 or is the Apple Watch not good device to track swims?

Apple Watch Ultra, watchOS 10

Posted on Feb 21, 2024 8:51 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 22, 2024 3:18 AM

thank you. I covered the steps below during my first call to apple and following the steps this article did not resolve this issue.

2 replies

Feb 21, 2024 9:07 PM in response to Sd_artp

Hello,


According to this article: Swim with your Apple Watch, to get better results you'll want to make sure that the correct information was entered during setup.


Your Apple Watch estimates your measurements during workouts based on the information that you entered during setup. Here's how each workout is measured: 

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.
Open Water Swim: GPS will only provide distance when you do a freestyle stroke. Water might prevent a heart-rate measurement, but calories will still be tracked using the built-in accelerometer.


If you need to update your personal information, you can open up the Watch app on your iPhone, tap the My Watch tab > and tap Health > Health Profile. Tap edit and then tap the item that you want to change.


Check out this article for more information: Get the most accurate measurements using your Apple Watch


Apple Watch Ultra does not accurately record pool swim laps and distances

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