7 reasons your Garmin watch gets your pool swim distance wrong

1. Your watch strap is too loose

If you wear your Garmin watch strap too loosely, it will move around on your wrist more. Garmin watches such as the Forerunner or Fenix series use motion detection to track your pace in the swimming pool. If the watch strap is too loose, there will be extra movement which adds noise and confuses your Garmin.

2. You changed stroke halfway down a length

If you change swim strokes halfway down a length, then Garmin watches will often track this as two separate lengths. It’s best to stick to one swim stroke for a whole length to avoid this.

3. You didn’t push off the wall hard enough

As mentioned above, Garmin watches use motion detection to track your lengths in the pool. They rely on detecting an obvious push off of the wall to count the next length. Without it, they might think that you swam 1 length instead of 2. Next time you’re in the pool, aim to push hard off the wall at each turn, and glide for a few metres before taking your first stroke. And if you’re able to, try a flip turn instead.

4. You stopped mid-length

Maybe your goggles need adjusting, or your watch strap tightening? If you stop mid-length then the Garmin watch will likely detect this pause as the end of a length. It could end up counting 2 lengths instead of 1, which will throw off your total distance. Try swimming continuously until you reach the end of the pool.

5. You didn’t set the correct pool length

Your Garmin watch uses motion detection to track your pool swims. This means that it simply counts how many lengths you swim. To calculate total distance, the watch needs to know how long the pool was:

Distance = pool length x number of lengths swam

If the watch has the wrong pool length, the distance will be off too.

Make sure that you set the correct pool length before every swim.

6. You turned around mid-length

Busy pool? Forgotten your pull buoy? Whatever the reason, this will confuse your Garmin. It will end up tracking two lengths instead of 1.

7. Doing drills

Your Garmin watch tracks wrist motion, so if you decide to use a kickboard and not use your arms, it will simply think you’re stood still. If you’re doing drills, always remember to use the drill mode on your watch. It’ll prompt you at the end of a drill to manually input how far you swam.