quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:

...For your needs I would suggest the 645...

The Garmin 645 doesn't have an open water swim mode, only a pool swim mode. I mentioned two posts above yours which route I went and why.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:

...For your needs I would suggest the 645...

The Garmin 645 doesn't have an open water swim mode, only a pool swim mode. I mentioned two posts above yours which route I went and why.

I have to question what the difference between open water and pool swimming in terms of an app. When you boil it down to the pure basic the only difference in pool swimming is the TURNS. So, in a way open water swimming is simply swimming in a pool large enough that you don't ever have to turn. As someone with real experience with heart issues I have to say it doesn't matter how old you are, using a good accurate Heart Rate Monitor is important.

I can also tell you that with 3 LED based HR monitors I can only say they are convenient gimmicks and nothing more. Because all of mine are obviously movement based using a population database that is 40% Obese.

If you want to get accurate Heart Rate date either get a portable ECG set or wear a heart rate chest band. BTW, I worn both a portable EKG and my chest band and the Garmin chest band was always within 2 beats of the medical grade EKG I was wearing.

I'm not sure, hence why was asking about these watches, but I believe open water swimming mode uses GPS to keep track of distance. In pool swimming mode, you have to set the pool length manually, so I believe it keeps track of the turns. The instructions for the watch say it can automatically detect between free, back, fly, and breast, but only free works for open water swimming because the watch has to be face up out of the water for GPS signals to be picked up.

As far as heart rate, I'm not saying accurate heart rate info isn't important, rather that at 13 years old, I don't believe it's a feature he would use.

The watch came Saturday afternoon, so he couldn't wear it a morning swim practice. He'll get to wear it at swim practice today. He has used it twice, once while walking the dog with my wife and once for a short run. It tracked both very well. You can actually play the track over laid onto a map. At one point there's several small loops and I asked what he was doing. My wife said she told him to run in circles. For his run, it said he ran 1.01 miles on a route we had driven around to figure out a 1 mile route in our neighborhood last fall when he was running cross country.