Swimming with Apple Watch Series 3

[c.s.]

I finally had a chance to swim laps with my Series 3 (sport loop band) and REALLY enjoyed letting the watch count laps for me. The sport loop stayed secure and really comfortable.

On the way home Siri had trouble hearing me and I kind of freaked out that the mic was ruined. But I found this thread from Series 2 and it holds up. I went through a bunch more water "ejection" cycles and after an hour everything was working like normal. I guess there's no way to prevent water from sitting on the mic and speakers and interfering with things until they dry out. I'm worried they will degrade over time but I did get applecare and I'm sure Apple would replace it without a problem.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/after-a-swim-speaker-doesnt-sound-right.2008734/

 

[stwyford]

I don’t have an answer to your question but I’d appreciate some advice about counting swim laps. I started my workout, choosing the 25 yard length. I thought it was counting lengths but my husband said it was length of time and not laps. He said I could find out the number of laps in the watch app but I couldn’t. Any advice on how to do that?

 

[musicpenguy]

I was blown away with it figuring out accurately the type of stroke I was swimming! I was counting myself for this first outing.

 

[edhchoe]

I was blown away with it figuring out accurately the type of stroke I was swimming! I was counting myself for this first outing.

:0
I am blown away too. I thought you input the styles. But then I read your post.
I guess each style has unique stroke pattern. But still very cool how the watch can tell.
And that 1000 Cal!!! You have to eat while swimming if you spend that much energy. Wow...

OP and you are both amazing. I am not a swimmer and those yardages are just amazing.

 

[jalee15]

Hi how do you pause the timer then restart during a swim?

 

[musicpenguy]

Hi how do you pause the timer then restart during a swim?

You don’t, or at least I didn’t. You can see from my screenshot that the watch will auto detect this to create sets for you.

 

[matrix07]

Hi how do you pause the timer then restart during a swim?

On watchOS 3 you press crown & side button at the same time, then do it again when you resume. On watchOS 4 it’ll detect automatically.

 

[jalee15]

Thank you
[doublepost=1506927156][/doublepost]

You don’t, or at least I didn’t. You can see from my screenshot that the watch will auto detect this to create sets for you.

Thank you
[doublepost=1506927297][/doublepost]

Thank you
[doublepost=1506927156][/doublepost]
Thank you

And at the end, how do you stop it?
[doublepost=1506929328][/doublepost]

On watchOS 3 you press crown & side button at the same time, then do it again when you resume. On watchOS 4 it’ll detect automatically.

But how do you stop OS4 after your swim ends please?

 

[profets]

I've been swimming multiple times per week for years, including original apple watch and the Series 2 for a full year. Always had the "tinny" noise and mic not hearing me well for an hour or so after a swim (even after ejecting water multiple times). Year later though, mic was still good. This morning going for first swim with Series 3 / OS4.

OP - how was it swimming with the sport loop? Curious how long it'll take to dry out after.

Thank you
[doublepost=1506927156][/doublepost]
Thank you
[doublepost=1506927297][/doublepost]
And at the end, how do you stop it?
[doublepost=1506929328][/doublepost]
But how do you stop OS4 after your swim ends please?

I usually pause it using the crown + side button, then scroll crown to disable the water lock, swipe left and choose end workout.

 

[GEEFORCE]

I finally had a chance to swim laps with my Series 3 (sport loop band) and REALLY enjoyed letting the watch count laps for me. The sport loop stayed secure and really comfortable.

On the way home Siri had trouble hearing me and I kind of freaked out that the mic was ruined. But I found this thread from Series 2 and it holds up. I went through a bunch more water "ejection" cycles and after an hour everything was working like normal. I guess there's no way to prevent water from sitting on the mic and speakers and interfering with things until they dry out. I'm worried they will degrade over time but I did get applecare and I'm sure Apple would replace it without a problem.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/after-a-swim-speaker-doesnt-sound-right.2008734/

Do you have screenshots of your splits?
Just from looking at your avg pace and the elapsed time, it seems as though it is misjudging your speed.

 

[profets]

Do you have screenshots of your splits?
Just from looking at your avg pace and the elapsed time, it seems as though it is misjudging your speed.

Mine is different looking too compared to how it was on watchOS 3. 1000 m in 24 minutes, should be around 2:30/100m, but it shows 2:05/100m. Looking at the splits they're all close to 2:00/100m.

Ahh, you can also see "auto sets" and it separates rest time. That's probably causing the pace to show faster. I was purposely trying to stop after 5 laps to see if it would auto-pause, but it wasn't. I guess it knew that I was stopping though and marked it as rest?

Some screenshots:

 

[c.s.]

OP - how was it swimming with the sport loop? Curious how long it'll take to dry out after.

I squeeze it with a towel and then it takes about an hour. It’s really comfortable even when it’s wet. I like it best because it’s so easy to adjust and take on and off.
[doublepost=1506950897][/doublepost]

Do you have screenshots of your splits?
Just from looking at your avg pace and the elapsed time, it seems as though it is misjudging your speed.

I did take a few short breaks at the wall because I was curious how the Watch was doing! That must have caused the difference.

 

[dgdosen]

You don’t, or at least I didn’t. You can see from my screenshot that the watch will auto detect this to create sets for you.

This is pretty awesome - I usually swim intervals and try to keep my strokes at 10 per length (25 yd pool) and the watch can monitor that...

I can see on a longer swim how my stroke counts and time per length start to slip! Very informative. I need lung 2.0

 

[virginblue4]

Last night, I went swimming for the first time in around 10 years! I took my watch and thought I’d just go for it. I was out of breath after the first one and didn’t manage to complete an entire lap without putting my feet to the ground but I had a great time!

I did 13 laps in total, 12 of which were breaststroke and 1 freestyle. I didn’t realise the Watch was able to track the type of stroke and then tell me how much I did of each! Very clever. I also did realise it automatically detected when I was resting. Am loving this!!!! Intend to start swimming 3-4 times a week and look forward to using my watch to track my improvements going forward.

 

[jalee15]

I had a great swim with the watch today and also loved how it could detect stroke changes. Is there a way to make it vibrate to remind you that you have reached your distance?

 

[matrix07]

I had a great swim with the watch today and also loved how it could detect stroke changes. Is there a way to make it vibrate to remind you that you have reached your distance?

It will vibrate when it reaches your goal (and half of goal too) but sometimes its hard to notice in water. Set haptic to the strongest will help.

 

[The Game 161]

Can't wait to try this out...even more reason to get LTE nike watch

 

[GHarve03]

You don’t, or at least I didn’t. You can see from my screenshot that the watch will auto detect this to create sets for you.

Hi - so I'm having trouble with the set detection (Watch 3, IOS4) in that the watch gets it wrong most of the time and things I've started a new set. I can do a swim with 3 sets of 500m, but the watch will show me any number of lap times. I wonder if it think's I've taken a rest on some of the turns...

But what I'm noticing is that on my Workouts screen it's showing me "splits" and not "auto sets" like you see. How do I access 'auto sets' and see the same view as you?

 

[KeepCalmPeople]

I've swum with mine a few times and am also very impressed with the stroke detection and the stats it records. I noticed that it doesn't count a lap until you turn for the next lap, so for example I can swim 10 laps and when I get to the end of the 10th lap, it shows 9 laps, until I actually start heading back in the other direction.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Old thread - Apologies for bumping..

I've yet to have an Apple Watch and am considering a Series 3 as I really enjoy swimming and treadmill work and would like to use it mostly for that stuff.

Can you leave your phone in the locker and just take your Watch into the pool and have all the features work 100% and the workout be tracked correctly, etc?

I assume it would just sync up with phone when back in range in the locker room or ?

I prefer to as little as possible with me at the pool as there are lots of people around and I don't want to worry about phone theft, etc.

 

[profets]

Old thread - Apologies for bumping..

I've yet to have an Apple Watch and am considering a Series 3 as I really enjoy swimming and treadmill work and would like to use it mostly for that stuff.

Can you leave your phone in the locker and just take your Watch into the pool and have all the features work 100% and the workout be tracked correctly, etc?

I assume it would just sync up with phone when back in range in the locker room or ?

I prefer to as little as possible with me at the pool as there are lots of people around and I don't want to worry about phone theft, etc.

That is correct. You don't need to have the phone with you or close by. The Watch can actually function quite independently, and for swimming the phone is never needed except for looking at a more detailed view of the workout later on.

 

[turbineseaplane]

That is correct. You don't need to have the phone with you or close by. The Watch can actually function quite independently, and for swimming the phone is never needed except for looking at a more detailed view of the workout later on.

Perfect - Thanks for replying...
Excited to give this a shot

Any reason to choose the Nike one over a normal one?
Is that just an extra Watch face (Nike) or is there more that's different?

I'm 100% about using this for fitness/walking/tracking heart rate/swimming

 

[profets]

Perfect - Thanks for replying...
Excited to give this a shot

Any reason to choose the Nike one over a normal one?
Is that just an extra Watch face (Nike) or is there more that's different?

I'm 100% about using this for fitness/walking/tracking heart rate/swimming

Exactly like you said - only difference is the Nike watch face (and probably the inscription on the rear casing referring to it as Nike as well?).

I like it quite a bit in the water. I've used it for a lot of swimming, running, cycling, strength training, etc. I've even put it through some relatively long triathlons (4 to 7 hours), including a lot of open water swimming.

 

[turbineseaplane]

@profets Sorry, one more question..
Any recommended apps specifically for swimming or just built in tracking?

 

[profets]

@profets Sorry, one more question..
Any recommended apps specifically for swimming or just built in tracking?

I’ve just been using the built in Workouts app, I like it quite a bit. I use it for running, cycling, HIIT as well and like to see summaries of all those workouts in one location (I’m sure there’s other platforms that can do that too though).

There is another swim app I downloaded but never got around to trying out. MySwimPro I think it was called. Might be worth checking out.