Garmin watch detecting the wrong stroke types? Fix it with just a few clicks

Is your Garmin watch showing the wrong stroke type? Breaststroke instead of freestyle? Backstroke instead of butterfly? Find out why this happens and how to fix it with Swim Blueprint.

Why do Garmin watches detect the wrong stroke type?

Garmin watches use a combination of accelerometer sensors and some intelligent software to correctly detect your stroke type when swimming in a pool. The motion that your wrist moves in during a swim stroke will vary depending on which stroke type you are swimming. Garmin watches look for known patterns of movement to try and figure out if you’re swimming breaststroke or freestyle. This process isn’t perfect:

  • Changing stroke - if you switch from one stroke to another mid-length, the watch can get confused and record the wrong stroke or detect it as two separate lengths.
  • Loose watch strap - if the watch strap is too loose then it can add too much sensor noise and confuse the watch.
  • Not using “drill” mode for drills - drills such as kicking or sculling won’t be easily picked up by the watch, it’s best to use the “drill” mode to record these.

How to fix wrong stroke type

Unfortunately, Garmin doesn’t give us any way to correct stroke type after a swim. Swim Blueprint offers a free tool which can be used to fix this:

  1. Export your FIT file from the platform of your choice (e.g. Strava, Garmin)
  2. Open the file in the Swim Blueprint editor
  3. Review the lap and length chart - each bar represents one pool length
  4. Check the stroke types for each length - see the colour coding or hover over a length to check
  5. If a length has the wrong stroke type, click it and then update it using the dropdown field
  6. Click Download corrected FIT to save the fixed file