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Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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Thanks – that was fantastic. I have a 201 but it will work the same, I’m sure. I’m doing an SF Bay swim this weekend and really wanted to track it. Now I can!
Thanks for the write-up, I’d heard other people doing this too. Don’t you think though that a company as successful as Garmin could make the watch waterproof, even if the GPS didn’t work while swimming. Using on your wrist for a triathlon would be great if you could get HR and lap times including the swim.
Nice! I’ve had my 305 for years, but I just did my first swim with it today. Very Cool.
Weird though – the watch says 0.93 miles (which seems about right), but after I uploaded to SportTracks 2.0, it showed 1.44 miles for the ‘calculated values’. I’m checking the discussion boards on SportTracks now.
Rainmaker – your blog is fantastic. I regularly read your adventures and look forward to each new post.
Your review seems to indicate that the heart rate monitor strap can be worn while swimming w/o a wetsuit. Am I correct in that interpretation? Are there any limits to doing this? HRM strap lifespan, etc…
This is so helpful. I’m looking to get my first GPS watch to train for the Reno/Tahoe Odyssey next May, and have found your discussion immensely valuable. Thanks so much! (I read this and the main 305 review) I’m going to give the 305 a try.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Excellent! I stumbled upon this posting accidentally and I’ve wanted to do this very thing. Thanks for the tips… just one question… have you used the Heart Rate Monitor… if so, any advise on that?
I typically always have my HRM under my wetsuit during swims so that when I transition to the bike/run it’s already there and is just picked up (I use the HRM strap on EVERY run/bike during training and racing).
However, when I have swam with my Garmin 305 and the HRM is on under the wetsuit the data gathered is fairly slim. I think the combination of the water and the wetsuit breaks down the signal. I’ve had a little better luck without the wetsuit in picking up random bits – enough to kinda create an average, but not enough to capture short sprints, etc…
Get the new waterproof Garmin forerunner 310XT – waterproof to 50m.
You can also try wearing the HRM backwards under your wetsuit — so the electrodes read on your back instead of your chest. Having the transmitter closer to the watch, rather than on the other side of your body, might help.
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I highly recommend this case –
link to aquapac.net
I’ve been using it now for a few months. It fits well, it’s easy to tell that it’s closed and waterproof, plus you can loop the hole through your swim goggles.
Great review on the 310XT! I’ll be sticking with my 305 until it dies. :)
DC Rainmaker–great post. I came to the same basic set-up on my own but your post helped me avoid some mistake, like bad placement. Also answered my question on whether the heart rate monitor can be submerged. I’ll stick with my 305 until the 310XT is down to $150.
Great blog, went swimming with my new 310xt this morning, and it told me Id done 5km in 39mins!! and when I looked at the track on google earth I was swimming on the beach haha (gave my tri club a good laugh. Will try again with it on my head tommorow rather than on my wrist.
Thank you for this tip! I never even thought that 305s could be used as such!
Hi Rainmaker,
Isn’t a problem for HRM strap using it in salt water?
I’m mentioning, the strap that cames in 305 box.
Thanks for the advice.
Thanks and congratulations for your blog contents
Rui Marques
Hi Rui-
Nope, there’s no issues at all with the HRM’s in salt water, at least from a ‘surviving’ standpoint. The HR data still won’t pickup, but I’ve swam dozens and dozens of openwater salt swims without issue with it.
Thanks and good luck!
excellent comments, I want to start practicing triathlon, and would like to use my Forerunner 405 unit to swim, any ideas on how to do that?
Hi Daniel-
It’s much the same way with the 405, works just fine. One thing I’d suggest is picking up the fabric strap though, as it’ll make the whole on-top-of-head experiance much smoother. Good luck!
Once again, kudos on the excellent job reviewing. Your blog has helped me make the tough decision of buying my first training GPS that much more simple. And the helpful tips to maximize the use of my Garmin for multi-sport is invaluable. I wonder what we did before the internet?
Seu blog e incrivel…sobre o 305 o ZIPLOC com o Fororunner 305 e usado por baixo da touca?
Your blog is amazing … about 305 with the Ziploc Fororunner 305 and used under the hood?
Hi all,
but from garmin support:
“The FR 305 and the HR monitor are not water proof units and we do not recommend swimming with them. Please refer to page 53 of the manual. The only two units that you can swim with are the FR 60 and FR 310XT.
If you’re a triathlete the 310XT is the unit you would want to use. It also comes with a HR monitor that can be swam with. However, the HR readings in water may not be accurate.
“
Any comments? so there is no way to use clock and ALSO HRM in a swimming pool!! i am quite disappointed about hearing that.
Mark
Hi Rainmaker,
do you think is better to use HRM under the wetsuit during swim?
I’d like to use the HRM when go to swim but i am afraid to damage it – support is saying that the HRM is not waterpoof.
thank you Mark
Alternative thought … would a solid-state compass mounted in the cap with on / off course readouts in the goggles be enough of an aid that people would want one? It would not report where you have been, but would help you get where you wanted to go.
How long would you recommend swimming with it when you have it in a Ziploc bag? My swims would be about 1 hr to 1.5 hrs in the pool, maybe with some flip-turns thrown in. Would that make a difference?
Do you find your Ziploc bag leaks? Is it relatively safe in there?
I just got a FR305 and am kind of weary about swimming with it for extended periods of time when it’s so brand spanking new.
BTW, your reviews are amazing! Totally convinced me to go with the 305 and it’s well worth it.
Thanks!
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I have a slight problem I have followed all your advise about the 305 forerunner in the water but all it did was time it. I had no heart rate or distance covered. I was outdoors and swam in the sea to a distance of 1.4km (which i already knew). i noticed that whe i got out of the water i was reading my heart rate it just didnt record it. Now I have my first tri of the year on friday (14/1/11) and i want this to work properly. Can you help!
this watch has been great for running and monitoring my HR but i need more out of it now.
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I finally get to try this out on Sunday. Have my 305 but have never used the multi-sport thing or for swimming.
Actually I’ll probably try it Saturday during the test swim just to make sure everything works right. :)
craking review – just been looking at garmin watches and this has made my mind up for me – the 610 it is!
Thanks – I have only used my Garmin 305 for running so far – enrolled for a Triathlon sprint in nov – thought it would be good to track swimming now – I need a 3 months training plan for a sprint – where to get it??? Thanks – lke a lot the way you write!
Hi Imimdnul-
I’d recommend picking up the Triathlete Magazine Week by Week guide. It’s what I used for my first few tri’s and is super easy to follow. You can find the link up above by click on the ‘Equipment’ button near the toolbar.
It’s about $10-15 I think.
Good luck!
Rainmaker – I just love your blog, keep up the good work with all the posts!
I´m about to do my first tri and wanted to wear my 310xt during the whole race to se my overall time (the distance of the swim is not that important). Were do you usually have the watch during a race? Since I have the quick release kit its quite bulky, is it a good idea to have it under the wetsuit? Will it fit? Drawbacks on time?
If you place it under your wetsuite, it’s definitely more secure, though, certainly plausible to bump it – so time-wise you lose what you had there. Additionally, track isn’t as accurate. The Swimcap is usually where I place the FR310XT in a race, but, beware, that anytime you use a FR310XT in a race during the swim section, you’re at the mercy of everyone else and how rough the swim start is.
Hello, and thanks for the article. Your instructions say “After you’re done swimming you’ll want to use a program to see how far you went.” Does this mean the distance function on the 305 does not work when swimming? If it doesn’t, then is wearing a waterproof dive watch functionally equivalent? If it does work while swimming, would it still work inside a waterproof case such as one from aquapac?
Thanks!
Lake MI Swimmer
It works just fine, my comment was mostly aimed at the map aspect. As long as you place it in your swimcap you’ll get accurate data.
As for a watch on your wrist, you don’t need a dive watch – just one ideally waterproofed to 30m or 100m, since most of the time those are also fine for swimming (vs an IPX7 watch).
Hi.
I’ve seen Lance Armstrong swimming with his Garmin610 and the watch seems to work (as far as I can see from pictures). Whats your take on it?
On the FR610, his is pretty rough. See my comments in this post about it and the history of it (straight from the horses mouth!):
link to dcrainmaker.com
Enjoy!
Hi
Please check this workout: link to connect.garmin.com
I think the distance is definitely not accurate… obviously because of the jaggedness of the course…
What I want to know is if the timer on the Forerunner 310 is “real”… meaning… even though the GPS might not know where I am, does the timer keep going as a normal watch would or does it pause/slow until the GPS finds me again?
Yes, the timer is real, and does keep going even without the GPS aspect working correctly.
Btw – for the Garmin FR310XT does have an openwater mode. I see that you specified running, instead of Other > Openwater Swimming.
I know this is an older post, but I’m sure I’m not the only one still using my 305. This summer we took a quick dip/wade (maybe ten minutes, at most 2 feet of submersion) in a creek before a trail run and my watch went berserk a few minutes later. I called support and they said that the 305 is not waterproof at all. I quoted “1 meter of water for 30 minutes” and the Garmin lady said that isn’t correct, it should not be used in the water at all. This really surprised me. Have you heard anything else like this?
Unfortunately, I think you’ve got a confused Garmin support person. Their unit is IPX7 waterproof, per their own manual (it’s in the index). It’s on page 64, manual below:
link to www8.garmin.com
I’d call back and escalate if need be.
Hello! I have found very useful your tips. I am also a triathlete and I would also like to find useful my Garmin on this sport. I have just purchased the Forerunner 410 unit, with a heart rate monitor. I have always used polar units that worked perfectly underwater displaying heartrate information, but unfortunately, this feature did not work with my Garmin 410, as it gets disabled as soon as the unit goes underwater.. Is it supposed to happen or there is something I must check? Thanks a lot!
No, ANT+ doesn’t transmit successfully through water (only goes about an inch). So for swimming, no luck there.
Also of note is that the FR410 isn’t really waterproofed for swimming and after a bit of time it’ll die (many stories from many folks on that). It’s the pounding that’s the issue (against the water).
OK, it is a shame as this unit has a lot of nice features. Thanks a lot for your answer!
Hello, very useful tips!
But before I place my Forerunner 10 under my swim cap, I would like to get your thoughts on whether this is actually safe, radiation wise?
I don’t even know if GPS devices emit radiation at all. But if they do, how much is a safe number? I couldn’t find any information related to this from Garmin.
Regards,
I’ve never heard any issues. Keep in mind, it’s less ‘dangerous’ than a cellphone in the sense that these watches don’t emit/transmit anything – just receive. Whereas a cell phone next to your head both emits/transmits and receives GPS.
1 meter immersion implies STATIC immersion. If you make too much sudden movements (in the extreme, dive), water pressure will increase exponentially during that brief moment of time. Do not swim with devices like the 305. in the long(er) run, you WILL break it.
Correct. Hence the whole post about putting it in your swimcap to avoid such scenarios.
Hello!
Just to congratulate you for this excellent post.
I have been testing this technique with my Forerunner 305 and it works like a charm. Check this training I did this morning:
link to connect.garmin.com
I will participate on a sprint tri on a couple of weeks, Finally I will be able to track the whole event!! :-D
Regards
Juan
Thank you for writing this article. Although a few years old, your solution may get me out of having to buy the 910. I have the Garmin swim and the 405 and have finally started getting more involved in the open water. All I care about right now is the distance I’ve covered at the end of my open water swim. I do have one request. Since I don’t really want to spend $300-400 on another device, I would like your opinion on which of the following solutions you would recommend. If I survive my upcoming olympic, open water swims will be part of my future:
Option 1 – Keep the Garmin Swim, 405, and buy the 310xt. The 310 is between $160-$190 these days.
Option 2 – Don’t buy anything new and use 405 in my open water swims as you’ve suggested in this article.
Option 3 – Sell the Garmin Swim, 405, and buckle down and buy the 910.
Option 4 – Look for upcoming DC Rainmaker Giveaways and pray hard.
Looking forward to any insight you can provide!
That’s a tough one. The absolute most accurate method is still the swimcap, so if accuracy is key, then swimcap method is ideal.
If you’re looking at doing lots of openwater swimming, check out the Safer Swimmer buoy (see my review). I saw this because I’ve heard of a number of people sticking the GPS in that and getting even more perfect accuracy (since it sits above the water 100% of the time, as opposed to 95% of the time).
Thank you Ray!
Hi Rainmaker
G’day from Australia
Just got the 310XT and can’t wait to try the swimcap method to track distance and path in open water swims here in Sydney.
One question though – do you suggest taking the strap off by removing the pins so it is just the unit itself that goes under the swim cap? As I’m guessing it might be uncomfortable or bulky to put it under the cap with the strap still attached
Thanks for the advice – great site
Nick
cheers
I generally don’t. The reason is that it actually makes it easier to fall out of your swim cap than if the strap is there. This way, the straps can act as a bit of an additional chunk of grip to hold everything under your swim cap straps.
Just my two cents.
Would the above advice work with a garmin edge 500?
I already use this for the bike and my run, I only want the basics of the swim ie gps route and time, don’t need stroke or any of the more technical stuff.
I was in the process of buying a 910 purely for the swimming discipline but reading posts on the garmin 910 forum about issues with this watch then I may hold off buying it and even consider a garmin swim purely for counting laps in the pool although I believe there are issues with this as well.
Cheers
Mark
It would work for the Garmin Edge 500, no problems there.
That said, I wouldn’t over-think forums issues. Remember that company support forums are ONLY ever used by people who have issues. Thus that’s pretty much the only thing you’ll see there.
If you look at (for example) the FR910XT post/review here. You’ll see the vast majority of people are quite happy (especially in the pool).
Just my two cents…
Ray, thanks very much for the quick reply.
I can pick up a brand new 910 for £210 in the uk, so it seems a no brainer over buying the garmin swim.
I was just put off with some of the problems in the garmin forums, but you are right in the sense nobody shouts hey this product works really well on these forums.
I have read your review on the 910, took me more than a couple of attempts to get from the start to the end, you do go in depth :) but I like that!
Decisions, I don’t need all the extra data that the 910 gives you BUT it nice and shiny and it is in my price range.
Will have a think about it.
Thanks again
Do Garmin watches give off the same radio frequencies as cell phones? If so then it’s like holding a phone to your ear making a 90 minute call, otherwise I would check it out before strapping this to the back of my head. I’d just put the watch in the front of my speedo, had 3 kids and the chop so there is nothing much of value down there :)
Most Garmin’s don’t actually wirelessly transmit at all.
Useful invention!I can not wait to try with my fr620.But can I press the button in the water?
Yup, no problems there.
I have the Fenix 2 and already tried to use it 2 times while open water swimming.
First time was on the wrist = almost no GPS data
Second time was under the cap = zero data
2 Questions:
1. Do you think there is any difference between thickness of caps? Are some GPS signal repellent?
2. Would you also place the watch at the some position of you would do breast strokes? (I am an early beginner)
Thanks!
Hmm, odd. Any chance you have UltraTrac enabled? And how long is your swim?
My swim was 2k in about 45min.
I may have done this mistake to enable the autopause function which I will try to disable next.
UltraTrac definitely disabled. No need to safe battery.
How about breast stroke position, any difference recommended?
Hi Ray,
Considering that the new GPS watches, like 910XT, support now open water swimming, I am curious if you still race with your watch under the swim cap, in order to get more accurate data.
If you use a 910XT under the swim cap, do you keep the strap on? Also, do you secure the watch with a string? And my final question, have you ever lost a watch in a race/training because of the swim cap method?
Thanks!
Very old post but very informative. I have recently become more of a swimmer than a runner (massive injury) and was working on trying to use my 210XT in open water.. Going to try it out in the pool this afternoon. (Yes…the pool is outdoors). Hopefully it will work a charm. Hopefully. I’ll still be counting the laps though.
Hi, I’ve been using a Polar M400 for running and pool swims (manual laps) but would like to give it a go in open water. Anyone any experience of this as the straps are quite stiff? Do you usually wear 2 caps for this method?
I wouldn’t worry about a 2nd swim cap. It’s just feel wonky, but beyond that I’ve tried all sorts of watches in my cap without issue.
I’m considering using a 2nd quick release kit, so i can use the ‘watch’ part of it without straps, and feed the swim goggle strap through and under the strap pins. I find that with the 910xt under my swimcap, whether with the strap attached, or just the unit itself taken off the QR, i can never find the buttons!
The QR bike attachments 1. don’t have as much grip on the 910, 2. dont seem to have any way of attachning to anything other than Garmin’s rubber bands, so i figured the wriststrap piece, without straps, could work. Physically, it fits fine (tested dry only)
Do you think this would hold up ok? (im a poor swimmer and stay out of the melee)
Someone did this a while back (and linked to it from the comments of some post). I remember them saying it worked reasonably well.
Hi Ray. Not sure how, but found this old post. Very Informative and still useful !!!. I got into swiming about a month ago and I’ve been looking a way to track my pool swim with a GPS. Total failure with my Garmin FR 620. Now I’m ready to try your recommendation. Being water proof for 5 ATM should not need any protection only make sure that is on the back of my head (googles strap may work as I used them at 45 degree angle from my eyes). I’ve been using it on my wrist, but as you had pointed out, accuracy is close to none. Tomrrow will try although not sure how to track the laps. Will go by touch/vibration/beep. Thanks again. Cheers.
Sweet!
Had the FR305 for several years until last week, when I couldn’t resist the 735xt any longer.
I hope this will be better for swimming than my old pal. i will still miss it, it has a place in my heart :)
Glad this is still valid a decade later, when GPS enabled watches are a dime a dozen but none will still track if one is doing breaststroke.
Super helpful post. Please keep these informative posts going. There is just one thing missing, that would speak a thousand words – a photo showing exactly where/how the watch is positioned. I have so many questions about this. Are the straps left on? Do you have the straps ‘open’ (e.g. as flat as possible), or closed (e.g. so the straps form a circle). Standard rubber straps or soft velcro material straps? If you no longer use this watch, please feel free to us another for the demonstration photo.
Please ignore my comment as upon rereading this page i see that you clearly recommend removing the watch from the strap.
I used some TheraBand and duct tape to hold my gps running watch on my head. I put the watch on first, then the cap on top