Ionic not recording swim lengths / distance properly

[ben_lee]

Hi,

I have had my Ionic for little over a year now and whilst it was working great, recently i've noticed that the watch won't record the number of lengths I do accurately, it will nearly always under count what I have done. This is usually maybe 1 or 2 lengths out of 10, but I did a swim on Thursday and it only counted 3 out of 4 lengths sprinting freestyle. I then did another 10 and it counted 8.

I did a swim a few weeks back when I had the watch on (with the app enabled of course) and I did 50 lengths and of those it counted 12. That has been a rare occurrence though, usually it doesn't count say 10-20% in my experience.

I dont do tumble turns any more as I am not 15 any more and I lost the confidence and ability to do them so when I turn I just put one hand on the side wall of the pool and then turn myself in the water to face the other way.

Any solutions at all?

[SilviaFitbit]

@ben_lee Welcome to the Community. Thanks for taking the time to share what you're experiencing with your Ionic. 

I would like you to confirm that you've properly entered the pool length on your Ionic. After this, check the following because this can affect the data you're getting: 

• You completed only a few laps
• You stopped to rest multiple times or in the middle of the pool
• You stopped to rest for longer than 60 seconds after completing a pool length
• You changed your stroke type midway through a length
• You swam with a kickboard or without using your arms
• You swam less than the minimum duration needed for your swim to be automatically recognized

If you have checked the above but you're still receiving inconsistencies, please restart your watch and try tracking another swim once again. 

Keep me posted! 

[ben_lee]

• You completed only a few laps

- well that depends on my swim set. I can do 4 lap sprints or 20 lap endurance sets, however I wouldn’t expect that to be an issue. 

• You stopped to rest multiple times or in the middle of the pool

nope, I never stop in the middle of the pool.

• You stopped to rest for longer than 60 seconds after completing a pool length

im not sure why this would cause a problem...? People don’t rest in the pool?

• You changed your stroke type midway through a length

nope, never do this.

• You swam with a kickboard or without using your arms

again, never do this.

• You swam less than the minimum duration needed for your swim to be automatically recognized

not sure what this exactly means? If you swim 1 length it should record 1 length?

...and yes the pool length is set correctly in the settings.

thanks Ben.

[ben_lee]

Further news, I went for a swim last night.

I completed 60 lengths and it counted 59 (I always complete an even number of lengths so any time I see an odd number I know its screwed up somewhere). So after this I stopped for a moments rest, then I looked at the watch, it displayed the 59 lengths number, then did some kind of restart where the blue logo appeared and then the watch switched off and then back on again by itself.

I think the problem with the distance looks like its connected with the fact that if you push off from the side of the pool, you aren't moving your arms for perhaps 3-5 metres, is that factored into the algorithm when detecting lengths swam?

[SilviaFitbit]

@ben_lee Thanks for getting back. 

I appreciate the extra details shared. In this case, I've shared your post with our Support team and they will continue assisting you, please keep an eye on your email inbox. 

You can learn more about how Fitbit tracks swims by checking this article: How do I track my swims with my Fitbit device?

I'll be around if you need further assistance.