The Swimming Thread - Pool/OW

[dirty boy]

PomBstard said:

dirty boy said:

Paralympics is a massive thing, we have a lad who's off to Tokyo who my son swims in the lane with too, just a team mate to them and it's really cool when British Swimming send someone down to check up on what's going on, little clubs like ours don't get that usually.

Teenage nonchalance but awesome that he's got the chance to go

Can you let us know who the swimmer is? We'll be following it here and if anyone's familiar with Australian coverage of the Olympic/Paralympics, they'll know its a week of swimming followed by a week of swimming highlights - he'll be on the telly here somewhere!

And yes, Paralympics has become a big thing - recommend looking up Rising Phoenix on Netflix if you haven't already - includes swimmer Ellie Cole, trailer here...

I'll take a look at that, thanks. Also keep an eye out for your side of the pond and this....looks great.




Yeah, I can say, he swims with Jordan Catchpole.

https://www.britishswimming.org/athlete-swimming-p...

And here's our club insta that we started last year.....happy to urge people to follow us as a better profile may help us get sponsorship!

https://www.instagram.com/teamwaveneysc/

[R Mutt]

What's a nice natural wild swimming spot near south London?

Beckenham Place Park is OK but is just a man made merky pond and I'd rather enjoy the scenery for added motivation

[PomBstard]

dirty boy said:

I'll take a look at that, thanks. Also keep an eye out for your side of the pond and this....looks great.




Yeah, I can say, he swims with Jordan Catchpole.

https://www.britishswimming.org/athlete-swimming-p...

And here's our club insta that we started last year.....happy to urge people to follow us as a better profile may help us get sponsorship!

https://www.instagram.com/teamwaveneysc/

Wow - Jordan’s a bit of a star! Brilliant to have that sort of talent swimming in the team Team now has a new Insta follower...

If you’re interested, this is the team Jnr2 has just joined

https://instagram.com/warringah_aquatic_swim_club?...

I’ve got Head Above Water on the list too. Will probably watch this weekend whilst spending another couple of days at Olympic Park...

[AJB88]

Anybody got a cheap alternative to Swimtag? my local pool lets us use it for free I have been for a few years on and off. I'm moving houses and my current local pool is 9 miles away, the closest one is a 25m rather than 33m and doesn't have swimtag.

Only really use it for monitoring progress connected to Strava and Google fit.

I don't have a smart watch, I used to wear a Fitbit few years ago but that one didn't do swimming. Not really interested in a smart watch for anything other than Swimming as I wear normal watches.

Edited by AJB88 on Wednesday 9th June 18:14

[Scabutz]

Garmin do, or did a watch called Garmin Swim. It just tracks swim. Uploads to Garmin and then to Strava, sure you can get it in Google as well somehow.

It was only about 100 new so might get one on ebay.

In fact I used to have one and it might still be in my drawer of ex Garmins. Let me check, you can have it for a few quid in a charity box.

[R Mutt]

Scabutz said:

Garmin do, or did a watch called Garmin Swim. It just tracks swim. Uploads to Garmin and then to Strava, sure you can get it in Google as well somehow.

It was only about 100 new so might get one on ebay.

In fact I used to have one and it might still be in my drawer of ex Garmins. Let me check, you can have it for a few quid in a charity box.

How automated are they?

Someone was showing me the feature of their swim timer, if you pressed a button, it told you how long you'd taken. I said 'a bit like the hands on my watch then?!'

I want these



https://www.formswim.com/products/smart-swim-goggl...

Edited by R Mutt on Thursday 10th June 09:18

[anonymous-user]

R Mutt said:

What's a nice natural wild swimming spot near south London?

Beckenham Place Park is OK but is just a man made merky pond and I'd rather enjoy the scenery for added motivation

Tooting Bec lido is great, but it’s an outdoor pool so maybe not too natural.

For lakes though you’ve got divers cove in godstone (just over the M25) which might be a bit far but I know a lot of swimmers drive down from London to use it.

A few great ones here to check out.

https://www.standard.co.uk/escapist/wellness/best-...

There’s loads more that I’ve been to not on that list further out but hopefully some there that are nearby?

[anonymous-user]

R Mutt said:

How automated are they?

Someone was showing me the feature of their swim timer, if you pressed a button, it told you how long you'd taken. I said 'a bit like the hands on my watch then?!'

I want these



https://www.formswim.com/products/smart-swim-goggl...

Edited by R Mutt on Thursday 10th June 09:18

I’ve got the form goggles, they’re great.

I use them mainly for open water swimming and you can just switch off and swim and ever so often check out your time etc.

The pace is average for the whole swim so if the gps goes wonky at the start it looks like you're doing a great pace and then slowly settles down.

I think they’re on sale 15% off at the moment too,

I pair mine with an Apple Watch.

Some great info here about them.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/07/hands-on-form-...


https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/07/hands-on-form-...

[FunkyNige]

R Mutt said:

Scabutz said:

Garmin do, or did a watch called Garmin Swim. It just tracks swim. Uploads to Garmin and then to Strava, sure you can get it in Google as well somehow.

It was only about 100 new so might get one on ebay.

In fact I used to have one and it might still be in my drawer of ex Garmins. Let me check, you can have it for a few quid in a charity box.

How automated are they?

Someone was showing me the feature of their swim timer, if you pressed a button, it told you how long you'd taken. I said 'a bit like the hands on my watch then?!'

You just press 'go' when you start and 'stop' when you stop and it sorts out the rest. You get the time per lap at the end, current pace of the interval you're doing, strokes per lap, etc.

If Scabutz can't find his Garmin Swim, the Vivoactive 3 is about £75 second hand on eBay which will do the basic logging.

[R Mutt]

El stovey said:

R Mutt said:

What's a nice natural wild swimming spot near south London?

Beckenham Place Park is OK but is just a man made merky pond and I'd rather enjoy the scenery for added motivation

Tooting Bec lido is great, but it’s an outdoor pool so maybe not too natural.

For lakes though you’ve got divers cove in godstone (just over the M25) which might be a bit far but I know a lot of swimmers drive down from London to use it.

A few great ones here to check out.

https://www.standard.co.uk/escapist/wellness/best-...

There’s loads more that I’ve been to not on that list further out but hopefully some there that are nearby?

Nice one mate

I was excepting a drive, just not up to the Lake District etc! Godstone not far at all, will check that out.

[anonymous-user]

R Mutt said:

Nice one mate

I was excepting a drive, just not up to the Lake District etc! Godstone not far at all, will check that out.

Divers cove at godstone is pretty good. It’s an old sand quarry which now is used for swimming making it very clear, unlike most lakes and reservoirs where you can usually only see a meter or so. At divers cove you see fish and birds etc as you’re going around.

https://www.diverscove.co.uk/

They’ve got some good Facebook and strava groups etc also for more info and if you book a slot you can change it 48 hours before. I join for the year and then it’s £6 a session. So it’s worth it depending on how much you use it.

They’re a bit into the rules though like you have to wear a bright cap and they don’t let you start a second before your slot but then many places are like that now with covid etc.

If you want any more info just post up.

[R Mutt]

FunkyNige said:

You just press 'go' when you start and 'stop' when you stop and it sorts out the rest. You get the time per lap at the end, current pace of the interval you're doing, strokes per lap, etc.

If Scabutz can't find his Garmin Swim, the Vivoactive 3 is about £75 second hand on eBay which will do the basic logging.

My main thing is not counting lengths!

If a more generic smart-watch can do that I'll forfeit the GPS open water capabilities.

[Scabutz]

R Mutt said:

FunkyNige said:

You just press 'go' when you start and 'stop' when you stop and it sorts out the rest. You get the time per lap at the end, current pace of the interval you're doing, strokes per lap, etc.

If Scabutz can't find his Garmin Swim, the Vivoactive 3 is about £75 second hand on eBay which will do the basic logging.

My main thing is not counting lengths!

If a more generic smart-watch can do that I'll forfeit the GPS open water capabilities.

Mostly they are good for recording a session for later review. The data they give during the session isnt much use other than counting how many lengths you have done or reps. Yes you can check pace at end of set but they are very hard to read whilst swimming. I use a tempo trainer to keep my pace during a set. Apple Watch has a swim app and I guess most Goggle ones would as well. Assume they both have GPS anyway though.

[R Mutt]

Scabutz said:

R Mutt said:

FunkyNige said:

You just press 'go' when you start and 'stop' when you stop and it sorts out the rest. You get the time per lap at the end, current pace of the interval you're doing, strokes per lap, etc.

If Scabutz can't find his Garmin Swim, the Vivoactive 3 is about £75 second hand on eBay which will do the basic logging.

My main thing is not counting lengths!

If a more generic smart-watch can do that I'll forfeit the GPS open water capabilities.

Mostly they are good for recording a session for later review. The data they give during the session isnt much use other than counting how many lengths you have done or reps. Yes you can check pace at end of set but they are very hard to read whilst swimming. I use a tempo trainer to keep my pace during a set. Apple Watch has a swim app and I guess most Goggle ones would as well. Assume they both have GPS anyway though.

Yeah in that sense many of these are a glorified pedometer, except I'd image at least then it knows precisely what 25 or 50m is, if it uses the GPS to track swims? Presumably the swim efficiency is a product of accelerometer and GPS so I'd probably be more likely to go for a Garmin Swim that has a bit more idea what I'm doing with my arms rather than counting how many times I've rotated them. Annoying that average smart watches can't do that. I'd better stick to the basics rather than having a phone on my wrist for swimming.

Edited by R Mutt on Thursday 10th June 10:24

[FunkyNige]

R Mutt said:

Yeah in that sense many of these are a glorified pedometer, except I'd image at least then it knows precisely what 25 or 50m is, if it uses the GPS to track swims? Presumably the swim efficiency is a product of accelerometer and GPS so I'd probably be more likely to go for a Garmin Swim that has a bit more idea what I'm doing with my arms rather than counting how many times I've rotated them. Annoying that average smart watches can't do that. I'd better stick to the basics rather than having a phone on my wrist for swimming.

Edited by R Mutt on Thursday 10th June 10:24

I can't see that the Garmin Swim does anything more than a glorified pedometer that counts how many times you've rotated your arms? What else would you like to see?

These are the kind of stats you get at the end (Vivoactive 3 so no heart rate):

Edited by FunkyNige on Thursday 10th June 11:20

[Scabutz]

R Mutt said:

Scabutz said:

R Mutt said:

FunkyNige said:

You just press 'go' when you start and 'stop' when you stop and it sorts out the rest. You get the time per lap at the end, current pace of the interval you're doing, strokes per lap, etc.

If Scabutz can't find his Garmin Swim, the Vivoactive 3 is about £75 second hand on eBay which will do the basic logging.

My main thing is not counting lengths!

If a more generic smart-watch can do that I'll forfeit the GPS open water capabilities.

Mostly they are good for recording a session for later review. The data they give during the session isnt much use other than counting how many lengths you have done or reps. Yes you can check pace at end of set but they are very hard to read whilst swimming. I use a tempo trainer to keep my pace during a set. Apple Watch has a swim app and I guess most Goggle ones would as well. Assume they both have GPS anyway though.

Yeah in that sense many of these are a glorified pedometer, except I'd image at least then it knows precisely what 25 or 50m is, if it uses the GPS to track swims? Presumably the swim efficiency is a product of accelerometer and GPS so I'd probably be more likely to go for a Garmin Swim that has a bit more idea what I'm doing with my arms rather than counting how many times I've rotated them. Annoying that average smart watches can't do that. I'd better stick to the basics rather than having a phone on my wrist for swimming.

Edited by R Mutt on Thursday 10th June 10:24

It doesn't use GPS. You specify the pool length and it uses an accelerometer to determine when you have changed direction. If you don't push off the wall hard enough it will miss count.

It's a bit more than a pedometer, but not much. Stroke rate and average strokes are useful stats to have. As I say mostly it's just about recording a workout and some data.

The only thing that does more is the SwimSmooth app on the Apple Watch. That will analyse your stroke and advise on ways to improve it. E.g. if your recovery is poor, not pushing through to the hip, cross over entry etc. Not tried it so no clue how good it is.

[R Mutt]

FunkyNige said:

I can't see that the Garmin Swim does anything more than a glorified pedometer that counts how many times you've rotated your arms? What else would you like to see?

These are the kind of stats you get at the end (Vivoactive 3 so no heart rate):

Edited by FunkyNige on Thursday 10th June 11:20

Seems quite comprehensive if it can detect which stroke. Assumed as the Garmin Swim calculates swim efficiency, it had a lot more inside

[FunkyNige]

R Mutt said:

Seems quite comprehensive if it can detect which stroke. Assumed as the Garmin Swim calculates swim efficiency, it had a lot more inside

The DCRainmaker website is best for comprehensive reviews on what the various watches do -
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/garmin-swim-2-...

[Scabutz]

FunkyNige said:

R Mutt said:

Seems quite comprehensive if it can detect which stroke. Assumed as the Garmin Swim calculates swim efficiency, it had a lot more inside

The DCRainmaker website is best for comprehensive reviews on what the various watches do -
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/garmin-swim-2-...

That is the swim 2. Its got far more functionality that my one.

AJB88 - I have found mine. I dont have a battery for it, but it worked fine last time i used it. PM if you are interested

[AJB88]

El stovey said:

I’ve got the form goggles, they’re great.

I use them mainly for open water swimming and you can just switch off and swim and ever so often check out your time etc.

The pace is average for the whole swim so if the gps goes wonky at the start it looks like you're doing a great pace and then slowly settles down.

I think they’re on sale 15% off at the moment too,

I pair mine with an Apple Watch.

Some great info here about them.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/07/hands-on-form-...


https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/07/hands-on-form-...

Seen them the other day, do you know where they are sale?