I’m in the process of looking for a swimsense or poolmate for my swimming training (all indoor at this point). I use a Garmin 405 for both running and biking now. From what I’ve read, the 310 does not do a good job indoors while the 910 corrects this. Is that true? Thinking about selling the 405 and upgrading to the 310, if it will do all that I need. Basically for what I’d pay for a used swimsense and what I can get for my 405, I’d be pretty close to the price of a used 310.
For indoor swimming, the 310XT is nothing more than a stopwatch. The 910XT has an accelerometer: it counts lanes, keeps tabs on distance, splits and so on. I’m happy with it. The only drawback for indoor swimming is that you have to stop it during drills as it relies on motion of your arm; the Garmin Swim watch has a special mode for that, the 910XT not (yet, hopefully).
For indoor swimming, the 310XT is nothing more than a stopwatch. The 910XT has an accelerometer: it counts lanes, keeps tabs on distance, splits and so on. I’m happy with it. The only drawback for indoor swimming is that you have to stop it during drills as it relies on motion of your arm; the Garmin Swim watch has a special mode for that, the 910XT not (yet, hopefully).
Gracias. So is anyone selling a swimsense on the cheap? :o) Don’t have the bones for a 910 right now.
For indoor swimming, the 310XT is nothing more than a stopwatch. The 910XT has an accelerometer: it counts lanes, keeps tabs on distance, splits and so on. I’m happy with it. The only drawback for indoor swimming is that you have to stop it during drills as it relies on motion of your arm; the Garmin Swim watch has a special mode for that, the 910XT not (yet, hopefully).
Yeah…you put the Garmin Swim into “drill mode” which is essentially just a stopwatch. At the end of the drill, you stop it, and then can input how far you went. The watch divides the laps by the total time, so each lap gets the same time (it doesn’t actually detect the change in direction, but you input you pool length during setup, so it knows you did 8 lengths if you did 200 yards in a 25 yard pool).
For indoor swimming, the 310XT is nothing more than a stopwatch. The 910XT has an accelerometer: it counts lanes, keeps tabs on distance, splits and so on. I’m happy with it. The only drawback for indoor swimming is that you have to stop it during drills as it relies on motion of your arm; the Garmin Swim watch has a special mode for that, the 910XT not (yet, hopefully).
Yeah…you put the Garmin Swim into “drill mode” which is essentially just a stopwatch. At the end of the drill, you stop it, and then can input how far you went. The watch divides the laps by the total time, so each lap gets the same time (it doesn’t actually detect the change in direction, but you input you pool length during setup, so it knows you did 8 lengths if you did 200 yards in a 25 yard pool).
Spot
That’s my biggest issue. I’m up to 1600-2200 yd training swims (not fast mind you). But somewhere around 18-20 laps I consistently go into “technique mode.” Making sure I’m not chopping, dragging my feet, short arming my pull, etc. Then 10-12 min later, I have NO idea what my lap count is. The pool clock gives me the in-out time but depending on the day and what I’m working on, my laps are 45 to 60 sec. That can make for a huge differential when you swim for 50 min. Need something that will tell me what I did so I can think about my stroke more. Will the 910 do that?
The Garmin Swim will count your laps and give a lap time for each one, so if you forget what lap you’re on, it’s ok. I’ve swum probably 5 times or more with my Garmin Swim, and out of all the laps I’ve done, it has only missed one, so it’s pretty accurate at detecting a change in direction. It also detects strokes as well, which is cool. Check out www.dcrainmaker.com for a very in-depth review and screen shots of what the download looks like on Garmin Connect. I think that the910XT functionality is similar; again, there is a review for that on the same site.
Damn, how did people train BEFORE the swim watch? Its just amazing anyone could improve at all without such wonderful devices that detract our attention away from whats really important…Doing the work, not just looking at it afterwards.
Damn, how did people train BEFORE the swim watch? Its just amazing anyone could improve at all without such wonderful devices that detract our attention away from whats really important…Doing the work, not just looking at it afterwards.
Rocky, is that you? - Drago.
For a noob like me, I want to be VERY sure I’m putting in the proper distance training before I get into an open water environment. I can always walk in the run. Sinking…not so much.
Damn, how did people train BEFORE the swim watch? Its just amazing anyone could improve at all without such wonderful devices that detract our attention away from whats really important…Doing the work, not just looking at it afterwards.
Wow, what an inane comment. And your last sentence is inherently contradictory, if you stop to think about it for one second.
Damn, how did people train BEFORE the swim watch? Its just amazing anyone could improve at all without such wonderful devices that detract our attention away from whats really important…Doing the work, not just looking at it afterwards.
Wow, what an inane comment.** And your last sentence is inherently contradictory**, if you stop to think about it for one second.
Spot
That was my attempt at sarcasm that the OP seemed to get, but you didn’t.
I have a 310 for running primarily as I have an 800 for cycling. For the pool I have a Garmin Swim and really like it. As a noob, my times cane be all over the place pretty easily. It is nice to go back and look at laps and times and compare that to your workout plan (assuming you followed your plan).
The only issue I’ve found is if I have to stop part ways down a lane (due to me catching up to someone - rare, I know but it did happen), the watch senses that you stopped and started, just like a turn at the wall and so it assumes you did 2 lengths instead of one. Result is that it gives me 2 lengths really fast and overall adds 25m to my distance. I had to laugh the first time that happened. For drills, sometimes I’ll use drill mode but other times I don’t as it really only gives you total time and distance, no lap breakdowns unless you want to restart training mode at the end of every length.
The Garmin swim is about $150 which is a whole bunch cheaper than the 910, especially if you already have timers for riding and running.
The biggest things that I think the 910 gives you is that it works throughout a Triathlon, from start to finish so you get all your times. But, I get that wearing my 310 as well. However, the 910 has some open water swimming features that are not available with either the Garmin Swim nor the 310. Basically Stroke count / rate and I think Swolf.
OK, sorry. My sarcasm detector has been on the fritz lately. Went off on somebody in the LR a few weeks ago who was also just trying to be funny. Probably ought to have that looked at…