Garmin - Swim 2

There is Garmin Swim (IMHO essentially it is a ForeRunner, but swim has been put in focus; review here https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/garmin-openwater-review.html). However, modern Garmin watches are all able to track pool swim as well as gym workouts (you might have to set exercises later in the app if you want to track muscle groups affected). Essentially ForeRunner is for runners mostly, Forerunner 9xx is focused on triathlon, Fenix is mostly for outdoors - but again, all of them can do almost the same. I’d go with Fenix if budget allows.

Garmin swim 2. Gives you pretty accurate yards that you can see while swimming. My Fitbit charge wouldn’t show distance until I stopped and synchronized with my phone after. Also, wet touchscreen on the Fitbit is useless.

Using Garmin Swim 2. Happy with its function for tracking laps in indoor pool, took a little getting used to for accuracy. I have to be deliberate and smooth on my turns. Original band was tight on my large wrist, larger band was expensive, around $40.

I stopped using my Garmin Swim 2 because it would routinely add or subtract a lap or two on auto lap count. Maddening.

Plus one for the swim 2.. It's a basic watch that really only does swimming but it does swimming well. Both in the pool and open water. I particularly like that there is no touch screen and it's all button operated. Touch screens in the water are the devil.

I've had a Swim2 and upgraded to a 265 (which has a better accelerometer). Stroke detection probably won't get much better with an Apple. My watches sometimes confuse sprint free and fly, but otherwise it mostly gets it right. I find stroke detection matters a lot less than being able to count laps anyway. Auto lap counting on all watches is about the same.... all are 95%+ but if you want 100% you need manual stop/start and only Garmin has that

I've a Garmin swim 2 the battery lasts about a week. I only use it to swim, in the pool & open water plus to count steps.

My Swim 2 is pretty accurate here. I use the option GPS+ GLONASS in my first ow races/workouts and it gets the distance fairly well, comparing with my pairs’ watches. It even catches the moments where I got on my swim buoy to clean my goggles’ fog hahahahaha

I like the Garmin swim 2 for open water swimming, which is cheaper than other garmins, but it doesn’t do water temp. 

I use a garmin Forerunner 965, and it does the job with no real complaints. Like most watches, it misses the odd length every now and again, but ultimately, it's pretty good. The only thing I think the apple watches might do better than the garmins is they automatically count kick set where on garmin watchs you have to manually input the data. I have also had a garmin swim2, which is fine but very basic.

I pretty much use it to track everything. Where as the swim 2 from memory you can track swimming and running and nothing else l.

Don’t insult my push offs like that. Just kidding lol. I’m still getting used to the watch and absolutely use the auto interval feature. May just need to turn it off! Seems to be the advise

Ohhh yea I have that issue with the garmin 2. Meaning, I can’t go back in and edit it once it’s complete. I wish I could do that purely because I don’t know what workout I’m doing until I’m in the water and the coach tells me what to do

I use Garmin Swim 2 and it's been great. Pretty accurate for lap swimming!

You could use Google Earth to check the straight-line distance from the beach to the dam. If your track wasn't straight, the Garmin will show a greater distance. I also find that my Garmin Swim 2 is more accurate if I always pause the tracking if I happen to stop in the water and keep the watch above the water if I'm stopped so the GPS signal isn't lost.

Swim 2. It does pool and open water, and syncs with swim.com, Strava, and usms.com tracking sites. I've had mine for about 2 years.

I picked up the Garmin swim 2 after reading lots of reviews last Monday. I’m really liking it the app that goes with it that you install on your phone is so detailed and has lots of information. The watch is very easy to use. Has fun little features like beating previous times. For 100-400-800 + meters that’s fun trying to beat my previous best times. Unlike other watches. This is just a fitness watch. It doesn’t have a touch screen. You can have phone message alerts set up. But you can’t reply ect. So that’s worth thinking about if you want Apple Watch type features.

First time I took it out as it had just arrived as I was heading out the door to my swim so I just put it on and went through the basic set up. I hadn’t installed the app on the phone. And it had a bit of a mare said I did 3000 meters in 20 minutes…I wish. I was thinking this is kind of crap. When I got home I installed the app and it updated my software and calibrated some things. Next day and ever since it has been spot on mate.

I will say that I had an older Series 6 and it was fine in the water for about 2 months swimming 3-4 times a week. Then it literally fell apart mid-swim. Face detached and battery fried. I ended up getting a swim 2 to replace and I’ve been happy with it, but will likely upgrade to a FR 265 when this dies. I’m sure a newer model AW would probably do fine, but I didn’t want to spend that much to test that theory. So yes there are some of us out here that would be hesitant to recommend an AW, but you also may not have any issues at all. I think the older the watch, you’ll already have some degradation of the seal, so likely why mine just fell apart after a couple months in the pool.

Same. I was so hesitant to get it at first as I was used to an AW but when my AW died in the pool I was scared to spend money on a new one. The Swim 2 was cheap enough that if it failed at least I wasn’t out $600+. I really like it overall.

This is my issue. I want out of the Garmin ecosystem altogether. My swim2 routinely adds an extra 25 and I'm not doing anything strange. I do hit the lap button to mark the end of a stretch. I don't have hope that a different Garmin will be better since it's most likely the same code under the hood. I loved my apple watch until I busted it. I'm considering replacing it but I'd love to leave the Apple ecosystem behind as well. I'm really stumped on finding a replacement that will match the apple functionality. I don't think it exists.

I've been hearing good things about Phlex (not a watch) but supposedly better. I use the Garmin Swim 2 for pool swimming. I like it because of the auto rest, so I can do a whole work out without messing with it every lap. It also has a pacing function so distance swims, if you have a consistent pace, it can help keep you on target.

I’m on my second Harmon swim 2. After 5+years, the battery died. It’s great for open water swimming

I love my garmin swim 2… lower profile makes it more comfortable in the water

I use the Garmin Swim 2 in OWS races and it’s pretty spot on

I have a new Swim 2. I am unable to save my swimming activity. It’s an endless loop of save or discard. None of the buttons will save, but they sure will discard! I’m sure this is operator error, can someone help me?

It’s a good, durable watch that tracks what a swimmer needs. I’ve had mine for over 2 years and it has been a rock with great battery life and barely has a scratch after enduring 6x swims per week. That includes a few incidents of accidentally smacking it on lane ropes and walls. It has kept on ticking. Don’t expect a slick user interface or ‘smart watch’ touch screen features like Apple. It’s very basic with push buttons to navigate menus and features. Swim 2 is great at counting laps, counting strokes (for 1-arm), tracking pace, keeping interval time, detecting stroke style, and monitoring heart rate. However, you might find occasional workout errors - it will sometimes miss or add a lap if your turn is strange or you switch strokes mid-length. For daily stats, it’ll give you average active/resting heart rate, calorie burn estimates, sleep stats (if you wear it to bed), intensity minutes, step count, and stress levels. As a bonus it will let you log basic running and biking activities as well. The Garmin Connect phone app is solid and good for reviewing your workouts and daily stats.

I use the Garmin swim 2, and from my experience it measures distance correctly. There are certain situations where it will make an error, if you switch strokes in the middle of a length it may count it as 2 lengths. If you are swimming and bump into another swimmer and pause for a moment and then continue swimming, it may count that as 2 lengths. If my coaches work outs have sets where we switch mid length I just switch to drill mode and log the lengths manually, no solution that I'm aware of for the other issue.

Garmin swim 2 is what I use, had the Garmin swim 1 before it

I have the swim2 too and is the best option price wise. I did have some issues is very cold open water, where it temporary stopped working.

I'm not sure about temperatures in the Adriatic, but Swim 2 does not work in very cold water- it shuts off. I'm talking about 32-55 F.

I've got a Garmin Swim 2 watch and have been really pleased with it. GPS accuracy seems decent too.

Garmin swim 2 is great for swimming. I like all the swim focused options it has as well as the price I got it for.

The best is the swim2 ! Not other garmin have the features for swimmers like that one, CSS test ,open sea water, pace and body battery

Not all swim2 features are in the newest Garmin and you can push the training plan from my swim pro to Garmin and have all the stats in the app

Swim 2 is my go to , no touch screen , and for real tracking the watch need to be ajust and drill mode when you have seets of only kick for example. I never have problems in 3 years but I start/stop the laps manually

Fenix or swim 2 are the best watches for swimming if you use it with the auto stop off

For 300€ budget, you can still buy Swim 2 from Amazon for only 200€ or Forerunner 255 for around 240€. If you want a new model, maybe Vivoactive 6 for 290€. In pool swim mode after you set a pool lenghth, it only uses movement sensor (accelerometer or/and gyroscope) not GPS. From my experience, it's quite accurate.

I have a Garmin swim 2 and it’s done great for open water lake courses. I also use it regularly in the pool and the HR and distance seems completely accurate.

I really like my Garmin Swim 2. It’s relatively cheap ($200 new, I got mine used for $150) and the GPS works well. It also buzzes every 500 yds! Very helpful for pacing and breaking down my swim after practice and racing.

I really like my Garmin Swim 2

My exact experience with a swim 2 and instinct 2

I don't think any watch is accurate under water measuring heart rate. I had a swim 2 and switched it for a forerunner 255 because the swim 2 is extremely basic if you want to do any other activities besides swimming. I love the 255, both work great tracking swimming.

Same here, that’s the best guide you’ll get 😄

I second this recommendation. Been swimming open water with it, and the GPS tracking is quite decent. Plus, it's less expensive than the other Garmin watches

If you don’t want any smart watch capabilities then you could look at a Swimovate Pool Mate 2. Literally just counts laps or meters/ft. Has an open water setting but it’s not gps so not very accurate and you have to calibrate it. But for laps it’s fine. I had one for a few years before I got a Garmin swim 2 for open water swimming. The pool mate uses a watch battery like a regular waterproof watch, as opposed to chargeable smart watches.

I'm very pleased with the Swim 2 and most particularly about the fact that it does not have a touch screen, which sucks in the water. Outside of the water it's a very limited smartwatch - no nfc payments, no short reply functions, smaller screen etc. I have a separate Garmin (Vivoactive 4) for my daily use. Garmin is also starting with payed functionality (but not so much for existing models/functions). I have no experience with Pixel. If you really prioritize swimming over anything else I'd take the Swim, if you want to carry it during the day try to find out how the swim tracking capabilities of the Pixel are.

I don't stop laps (lanes) but I do stop sessions. No complaints with my swim 2.

As mentioned already, disabling the auto-interval feature is, in my opinion, essential for accurate swim tracking. I’ve swum with the Garmin Forerunner 245, then the Swim 2, switched to the Apple Watch, and now I’m back to the Garmin Epix Pro. All of them seem to struggle a bit with auto-interval detection, but aside from that, I’ve never had any major issues with tracking swim styles, laps, distance, or heart rate. Occasionally they might miss a lap or two, but nothing worth stressing over. Also, as far as I know, most indoor swim trackers rely on the push-off from the wall to mark the end and start of a lap (outdoor swims use GPS). So it’s possible your push-off isn’t strong or consistent enough to register properly.

I use Garmin Swim 2 for a couple of months and don’t have any complaints really.

If you can afford the difference definitely 265 Swim 2 was released in 2019. 265 was released in 2023 so is much newer with better internals. Previously had swim 2, now have 955

I’d upgrade to a newer Apple Watch (Series 10 or Ultra 2). Fast-charge solves the battery pain, and you still get all the iPhone smarts. For the pool I load my coach’s sets to the watch with **Blue Lap** (free, link below). It shows each rep on-screen while I swim, cleans up Apple’s occasional lap mis-counts, and I keep full notifications the rest of the day. Garmin Swim 2 is great if you really want a week-long battery and can live with a simpler UI. I’d skip the Forerunner 265—still lots of reports of missed laps. Blue Lap (if you want to try it): [https://blue-lap.com/](https://blue-lap.com/)

I have a Garmin swim 2 - and it's better than the fitbit! It took me a while to get used to it but now I like it! It tracks running too!! Edit to say I still count laps amd double check it against my watch. I know how long my pool is so I know exactly how many laps it is for a mile and I can break a mile down perfectly into 5 sets with the length of my pool. So that makes counting "easy" and I can do 5 different sets and that helps me not get lost. Plus I've always been a counter... its weird. I count things. Mindless things. I see faces all over the place too.

Yeah - I'm just a little gun shy to spend another $300 on a smartwatch just to have a similar result. This will be my third watch in just over three years, with my two previous being the Fitbit Sense and then the Sense 2. Hence why I'm moving away from Fitbit. I think the "Swim 2" might work well, but I'm just so nervous after two previous misses. Really hope someone has some experience to share. My online sleuthing has turned up some issues but most seem related to swim laps and such, so not a problem for me, but I still wonder if the more jarring motions of the arms under water (underwater running, or punching motions) are just too much for these smartwatches... swim strokes tend to be more smooth much less herky-jerky. I'd like to believe you should be able to get three to five years out of these watches, something better than 18 months anyway.

Got the swim

It's ok, seems better for water but the UI and software aren't great. It's clearly a case of function over form... though, in truth, I miss the form as an everyday wearable. Sensors work well though. If you just want a good watch for exercise and swimming you should be happy. Want to use it every day, use alarm, have nice dial options and just generally nice UI, well it's not the best. Passable though. I don't regret it and can't afford to replace a Fitbit every year, so longevity will be the kicker, fingers crossed.

I just track cardio. Not ideal but serves my needs.

If you can find them on eBay the original Garmin Swim is still a solid watch for recording pool swimming. I would still be using mine but I failed to close the battery compartment tightly after a battery change and it died with water ingress. Currently using a Swim 2, which as a plus has wrist HR, but is slight harder to read in the middle of a session (and the displayed lengths count lags behind what you've actually swum, although it catches up if you click stop). It has a small form on your wrist, so it doesn't catch the lane rope. I like it.

I wish I got that. My Swim2 is a about 2.5 days and always seems to die in the middle of a workout.

Yes and it works well. I had a Swim 2 and liked that well enough except the battery life wasn't adequate for very long swims and would crap out at around 10 miles. That's why I upgraded to the Forerunner but if you mostly swim and don't swim 10+ miles the Swim 2 is probably a better choice (cheaper, smaller)

I’ve used a Garmin Fenix, Garmin Swim 2, and Apple Watch for swimming and by far the garmins were superior. My Apple Watch would die after about half an hour in open water, regardless of water temp, and was always inaccurate with my laps and interval times in the pool. The swim 2 and fenix work much better.

I vastly prefer my garmin swim 2 to my apple watch. You have to turn off auto detect for the intervals. And it does track drills with "drill mode." My apple watch has no way to track intervals BESIDES and auto-detect feature and it was always a few seconds off. Plus it always died after about 20 minutes in open water.

No smartwatch does swimming or lifting particularly well, imo. The development of swimming software has always been secondary to the watch’s software for biking and running. That said, i do use and find acceptable the swim function on my garmin (I’ve had a swim 2, forerunner, and fenix). I don’t pay attention to stroke detection so I can’t speak to that but it does everything else you’re asking for.  For lifting, paper and pen is still king. I track my lifting workouts on my watch so i get “credit” for them and the workouts help me reach some of the silly little “challenges” garmin has, but it’s too fiddly, prone to errors, and doesn’t provide me the same information I get by writing down my lifts & how I felt. 

Swim 2 is good, but the Instinct 2 has so much more while still having the swim features.

AW left hand, Garmin right hand btw

Same for me man, always lose count after a few laps when I get lost in my thoughts while swimming. I prefer Apple Watches as they are more comfortable to use but my god, the Ultra is a UNIT and definitely not comfortable to wear. Using the Swim 2 is horror as it doesn't have a touchscreen and you always have to sync for a minute with your phone to see your activities. If money isn't an issue, I'd go for the best Apple Watch with the best strap.

Not if you also have to go buy an iPhone then it's not cheaper. The swim 2 is pretty darn good for swimming and it's not crazy expensive.

I've always used the Garmin Swim 2 and am on my second one now. My first one lasted almost 3 years before giving out but I did take good care of it. It's pretty cheap around $200-250 depending on where you order it from. Maybe there are cheaper but I've been real happy with it. The only sporty thing I use it for is swimming and wear it all day and night to keep track of body battery and step count.

What's your budget? If you care only about swimming I would go with the Garming Swim 2, you can find it for approx. 200Euros on Amazon every now and then. Sometimes you can also find the Forerunner 255 for the same price (overall improvemment over the Garming Swim 2). If you want to save a bit, you can find the Forerunner 55 at approx. 100Euros. It lacks a few features that the Garming Swim 2 has (e.g., critical swim speed). However, if you are just starting you don't really need them. Average time x 50m, heart rate, and SWOLF is more than enough to track your progress.

I’ll add another vote for the Garmin Swim 2.

I charge mine weekly and use it at least 3x per week. I don't wear it when I'm not swimming though

One more... Also all button control. No touch screen. Much better for use in the water.

Swim 2 has outdated tech and can't work with even myswimpro training plans. Almost Every garmin now has those features. Swim 2 is old.

+1 for forerunner 265s. More accurate than swim 2 when I demoed both.

I had a swim 2 and thought it did worse for the ows personally

Swim2 is solid for lap swimming, just a bit dated. Forerunner 265 is great overall but yeah, lap accuracy in pools isn’t perfect. If swim tracking is top priority, look at the Coros Pace 3, super accurate for laps, good HR tracking, and under budget. Clean UI too.

I had that issue with my Swim 2 as well, I learned not to touch the wall w my watch hand unless stopping. Very good now, but not always perfect

Garmin swim 2, gives me a ton of info

I've been a long-time Garmin Swim 2 user and have been fairly happy with their GPS accuracy. I recently began testing out the Coros Pace 3 and find it to be equally accurate (though their HR monitor seems to not be as accurate as Garmin's). On the plus side, the Coros Pace 3's battery life blows Garmin Swim 2 out of the water, which is probably not surprising considering how old the Garmin Swim 2 is at this point. A 1 hr swim w/ the Coros consumes about 2% of the battery life, while the same swim will consume a little over 20% on my Garmin Swim 2.

I have garmin swim 2. Overall I am happy with it. It saves me from having to count the laps. Some issues exist. Sometimes, it can miscount. This happens on long intervals when my form gets bad. Also, it can sometimes mis interpret what stroke I am doing.m, again probably due to my bad technique

Curious how you are tracking the water aerobic workouts on your Swim 2. I just got one and I tried building a workout as a "pool swim" and one as "custom workout". Going to try the pool swim tonight.

I’ve used a Garmin Swim 2 for many, many years. It does the trick and hasn’t ever given me any issues, both in the pool and in open water.

I have a Garmin Swim 2, it's really good at tracking swimming, even open water swimming. I also use it for cycling running and spin class, although it doesn't track distance on the spin bike. I got mine second hand and for the price it's everything I need :)

Having had the Garmin Swim 2 watch and switched to the Venu, I do miss my Swim 2 and regret swapping it. Not because the Venu was bad, I just liked the simplicity of it compared to the Venu which is a bit more Apple Watch style with touchscreen and lots of menus, and open water gps the Swim 2 had which worked well. The white watch was also nice to wear too on a daily basis and gave a nice sporty look. I’d be tempted to look on eBay near you to find one that’s hardly been worn as you can save a lot of money that way - if it’s purely going to be a swim watch it wouldn’t bother me anyway :-)

Garmin Swim 2. Very good and is fine in both pool and sea.

I charge about 2x per week and swim 2x lap sessions per week. Not many cons except Garmin doesn’t track personal records for 50m or 200m (not a massive deal!).

One pro I’ve noticed is that as I’ve improved my freestyle stroke, the accuracy of stroke style detection has gone from say 70% to 100%. I.e. if it’s getting it wrong, it might be the swimmer, not the watch! As another said, you’re better to press the button at the end of intervals but for me it detects my lengths with 100% accuracy. I think it depends on your turns.

Garmin Swim 2 watch chiming in here. Tracks open-water and pool swimming (I'm almost exclusively open-water). No complaints except for the occasional telemetry error, where the satellite has me making a sharp triangle around my actual path, but that's only happened twice in a few years.

My only gripe with Garmin Swim 2 is the small wrist band, doesn’t fit average guy wrist. I had to buy the special larger band for $40usd. Special band, a regular watch band not an option

garmin swim 2 is great if you want full swim tracking. if you just need something simple and cheap, check out the casio w800h or skmei sports watch, both waterproof and budget-friendly.

Get the forerunner it’s definitely more versatile and does the swim as well as the swim 2.. I have owned a Garmin for 20 yrs — have the Fenix 8 now

I try to give you few options , -swim 2 : have everything for swimming but is really focus only on swimming, heart rate is really good , but if you want to do others sports than is lacking a lot. Have drills mode and don’t miss a lap normally. -Suunto run/run s , if you change the strap get an amazing hr underwater (outside of water is way worse ) 🤷🏻‍♂️, is perfect on lap counting , have integrations with Suunto aqua headphone who give you some extra metrics on head rotations ( is still a new come , so something isn’t perfect yet) , can use for any other sports , but doesn’t have any drills mode -instinct series , actually similar to swim 2 but less accurate on hr reading and sometimes miss laps , can do so many things outside water , huge battery , but as a swimmer I felt not worth for only swimming so I send it back - forerunner series , it come in 2 versions , the small 200 series (the last one is called 500) , and the 900 series , go for the smallest , is lighter have everything you need and more stuff you won’t ever use , for the fact is smaller it is more comfy to use in water and hr just little bit more accurate , never miss a lap , and got all function of swim 2 for swimming plus tons of functions for many sports - in conclusion I use many times the Suunto but because is missing the drills mode I go back to forerunner when I need it , than I still using swim 2 bought so many years ago , I use for css , but honestly just because I feel nostalgic on it , after swim with him for many years

I use it for open water and it's been really good - even tracking me swimming short laps back and forwards across a remote bay with surprising accuracy.

You could have your Garmin set up for a wrong wrist. Worth checking.

Swim functions of Fenix 8 seem to be more of less the same as most somewhat more recent models, even with Swim 2 (honestly, it is fine for swimming. I swam with it for sure a while, but other functions are somewhat lacking). Fenix 8 supports diving but unless you dive, or otherwise do activities not supported by somewhat older models, I am not sure if it would be worth the extra money compared to older models because the swim functions seem to be essentially the same as the likes of Epix or earlier Fenix, more recent swim-compatible Forerunner etc. You should be able to pick up previous models somewhat cheaply, whereas Fenix 8 is quite expensive. I would have bought Fenix 8 if it was much better at swim tracking but it's not, so I did not spend the money to upgrade from Epix Gen 2 (which is annoyingly less accurate compared to Finnis goggles and Apple Watch but I digress)

Garmin swim 2. Works great.

Swim 2. Does all i need, pool swim, open water and run (walk) tracking. Nothing else to worry about.

I wouldn’t do that. Having used both Apple and Garmin products for swimming, I’d urge you to go for the Garmin. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the Apple, it’s just that the Garmin is better and the battery life is a godsend by comparison

pretty happy with garmin - stroke detection is pretty meh but that only matters if you need it. otherwise doesnt seem to affect laps and therefore distance, would say its 95% accurate as long as you manually stop the set so it doesnt trigger at the wall when you are fumbling with your cap and goggles.

just leave it at the wall if you are not going to stop. flipturns tend to trigger the lap pretty well, a good hard push is even better. only do the lap button when you complete your set and going to be stopped at the walk for a rest.

I have limited experience with both. Garmin (Swim) was not as good as AW for counting laps without flip turns. I killed an AW by swimming in a saltwater pool though.

I use Garmin watch for swimming on one wrist and whoop on the other (with a sleeve to hold in place).

Use a watch to track your swims. I can only speak on pool because that’s where I swim. I use a Garmin swim watch and track my workouts on a 25 yd swim. It automatically tracks your HR and pace. On some rare cases like kicking with a kickboard and alternating arms (butterfly), it doesn’t track my swim so I manually have to use my watch to track the “drills section”.

My Garmin requires me to press the lap button to end the set and from what I can tell it does not break it down. I’m told I should swim without a watch but there’s no way I could keep count so I awkwardly reach for the button at the wall

It counts my distance but I don’t think it knows when I’m at the wall. But I have used the my swim pro workouts and when I do them it transfers to my watch and I think I had to stop it at the end but it would auto start at the end of the rest. You could ask at r/garmin they will know better

My Garmin records my freestyle as breaststroke, and I don't even know how to breaststroke.

The set up is correct (left wrist). I think it's because my stroke rate is too low. When I start flailing my arms, then it records as freestyle, but at 42spm it's a breaststroke or backstroke...

Garmin will track your laps (while swimming any style). But if doing drills (FS kicking, one hand FS, BF kick...), you'll have to manually start/end each drill during your current Garmin poolswim session. With an Apple Watch it will track almost every lap, despite doing drills. So depends on what you'll do in the pool. Cheaper versions like a Fitbit , will track your laps no problem. You don't need to go to he GPS smart bands/watches just for swimming.

Why do you swim like that? Just out of interest. Is there any particular reason? My Garmin hassles most sets ok. For drills there is a mode where you set it manually. Works pretty good for tracking distance.

I love my Garmin Swim watch! https://www.garmin.com/en-CA/p/665374/

Like others have said, I've a Garmin and it seems to be tracking my swims quite well. I had two fitbits before (both stopped working) and they more often than not were wrong when it came to how far I had swam.

I tried the Garmin Swim but went with the Vivoactive 4. Purchased in 2020 when the pools opened. I would not refit for tracking distance in open water but otherwise it’s been great for over 4 years. HR from wrist seems accurate enough but you can get a chest strap if you want more accuracy.

The MIP display watches have the best battery life.