automatically detected swim mode is always 25m (1 length) shy of actual swim distance.

[capnSpaulding]

My fitbit charge misses one 25 meter length when I let it automatically detect swim mode. Once I'm in the pool I can't interact with it because it goes into water lock. Is there a recommended procedure I need to use in order to get an accurate lap swim count? Or will it always be 25m short of my actual swim distance?

[Wibby · Accepted solution]

Hello @capnSpaulding 

When the Fitbit auto recognizes exercise it can take a while to kick in.  The shortest time you can set it for is 10 minutes.

Instead if doing that, have you thought about setting up Swim as an Exercise Shortcut on your Charge 5 instead?  That way you can press Start when you get in the pool and it should start recording from the first stroke.

To set it up as an Exercise Shortcut, go to the Today Screen in the App on your phone. Tap your profile picture then Charge 5. Tap Exercise Shortcuts and choose one you don’t need to delete by swiping left.  Then tap on +Exercise Shortcut and select Swim.  Remember to sync your Charge 5 and check it’s showing up under Exercise Shortcuts on it.

 I hope that helps a bit.

[capnSpaulding]

i had set up swim mode as my first shortcut but was unable last time to unlock once i was in the pool. i've been practicing trying to unlock from water-lock and find i have to be extremely aggressive with my double tap and i've still not found a deterministic method of tapping. it seems to work best when i get mad and try to break it. i'll try to remember to set it in swim mode before getting into the pool in order to avoid the water-lock annoyance. hopefully this will count my laps correctly.

[capnSpaulding]

i went into swim mode and started before i jumped in and it counted correctly. there was a lead time and an end time counted while i wasn't swimming but that isn't that important. it counts laps correctly. i just wish it did it automatically.

[Wibby]

Hello @capnSpaulding 

I'm glad it worked for you!  If you want to edit the start and end times, you can do that in the exercise record on your app by tapping the 3 dots at the top right and selecting Edit Exercise Details.

It's a shame nothing's perfect.  I guess you'll have to make a value judgement about convenience or accuracy for your tracking, automatic or manual...at least you now know how to do both and their pros and cons.

Happy swimming!