Swim activity recognized as a run

[Judar]

Can anyone direct me to a decent manual on how to use my versa lite in the pool. I got this as a gift and was so looking forward to using it in the pool only to be really disappointed to find it doesn’t have swimming as an exercise. Only recognises it after swimming for ten mins. However, I swam for 11 mins and it logged it as a run. I’m quite a competent swimmer, so how it though I was running 🤷🏻‍:male_sign: 

So, my watch didn’t do anything until I swam ten mins, it then tried to connect, to my phone I think but it was out of range. It said let’s go but I wasn’t sure what it meant, so I ended the session. So I’m thinking that’s where I went wrong. So those ten mins meant nothing? Do I have to swim ten mins, then interact with Fitbit and confirm “I want to go” ? If want it to monitor a 30min swim, do I have to do 40 for 30 mins to be recorded? 

I do think this is a pointless feature on the lite. If your going to make it waterproof and record swims, then keep the whole feature and let it record lengths etc. Or just remove this feature completely rather than a half assed version of it. I suppose it’s better than my charge two. 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Rich_Laue]

First I will direct you to the Help link found below. 

This will take you to Fitbits help site. 

Now tap on the picture of your tracker. 

From here you may download your user guide or use Fitbits searchable - interactive online help guide. 

Let's start with http://help.fitbit.com/q=multisport 

And http://help.fitbit.com/q=exercise

Auto detect exercises default to a minimum of 15 minutes and can be set for as little as ten minutes. 

Did you manually start the swim recording from your wrist? 

[Judar]

firstly, I have the Versa lite, there is no option to select a swim on the tracker. It only recognises a swim after ten mins. Which it did do this morn, so it seems fine now. However, the next issue I have is that I can’t change the pool length from 25 to 50 meters. Don’t know why they stripped that out of the software🤦🏻‍:male_sign:🤷🏻‍:male_sign: 

BTW, your links don’t work, I get a 404 code error.

[Judar]

Thanks for taking the time to try and answer me though. 👍🏻

[LZeeW]

@Judar   Here is a link to the Versa Lite Manual.  I think this will help you.  I have a Versa, not a Versa Lite on my account.  But when you say that swim is not an option on the tracker, it sounds like you need to have Swim as one of your Exercise Shortcuts.  To change your exercise shortcuts on you app, tap on your profile picture > Versa Lite > Exercise Shortcuts.  If your Versa Lite is fully loaded, you will need to tap Edit and remove something so you can add Swim.  Once Swim is added you can start/stop your swim on the tracker.

According to the Features listed on the Fitbit Store page, lap tracking is only available on the Versa/Versa SE, not the Versa Lite. 

I hope this helps.

[Judar]

Thanks for your reply. However, it seems there’s nothing to do. There is no option to add swimming to shortcuts. I do get and understand that the lite only tracks a swim through auto detect. Which is fine but it’s ridiculous that I can’t change the pool from 25 to 50m. I can edit it but it’s not the same. I know Fitbit wanted to make it cheaper and save money but to remove this feature is nonsensical to me. I’ll just have to suck it up. 1st world problems eh? Thanks again. 

[Rich_Laue]

Here you go 

If all slots are full you will see this message 

Swipe an exercise off the screen and you will see a plus sign. 

 

Now check off Swim

 

[Judar]

Really appreciate that you’re trying to help. But I have the Versa Lite, not the Charge 3 that your example shows. There is no option to add swimming. Thanks anyway. 

[Rich_Laue]

Currently i don't have the Versa Lite connected to my account, but the process is exactly the same steps once you open the Versa Lite settings page. 

[Judar]

Agreed the process is the same but there is no swim. Almost every other sport you can think of but not swimming. 

[Rich_Laue]

Open your Fitbit app. Tsp on the activity tile. Then tap the settings. Do you see swim? 

[LZeeW]

@Judar   You are absolutely correct about Swim in the Exercise App.  I found this Help article and Swim is not one of the available exercises in the Exercise app for the Versa Lite.  I have a Versa on my account -- I should have done more searching before giving advice.  My bad.

This does get you back to your original issue of your swim being recognized as something that is not swimming.  I suspect there was something about your arm movement that confused the auto-recognition algorithms.  It happens.  I am an iPhone user.  When I look at my exercise details, I get the option to Categorize Exercise -- you should be able to change that "run" or whatever to swim.

Getting back to your some of your other comments, if you set the minimum time to 10 minutes and you swim for 20, you should get 20 minutes.  You don't have to swim for 40 to get 30.  I think the ability to adjust the recognition time relates to daily battery life.  Certain metrics are recorded a one minute intervals while exercising.  The rest of the time they are at five minute intervals.  Does this make sense?

Take a close look at the linked help article.  I hope there are other explanations of the Versa Lite features that will help you get the most from your Versa Lite while swimming.

[Judar]

I have now managed to log in a swim and I swam 14 mins just to test and it logged 14 mins plus enough data to keep me happy. Though I’m disappointed I can’t adjust the pool length to 50m. Only by editing the swim in the app. My issue now is with MySwimPro trapping my lite, with no way of getting out, other than force shutting it down. Think I’ll dump that app. 

[LZeeW]

@Judar   I looked at the MySwimPro support site.  It does mention Ionic and Versa, but not the Versa Lite.  But I didn't look very hard.  It might not work with the Versa Lite.

[Rich_Laue]

My swim pro interfaces with your Fitbit account. Not the Fitbit tracker. It should not matter. What tracker records the swim. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Judar. It's nice to see you around. @Rich_Laue and @LZeeW, I'm glad you were here, and thanks for your great help. I'm sorry for my delayed response.

@Judar, thanks for the information provided as well for checking the links provided in this thread. As you may know the Versa Lite will record your swim activities via SmartTrack. Depending on the units of measurement, the pool length will be set to either 25 meters or 25 yards by the default, and currently this information cannot be changed. I understand how you may be feeling about this situation, and appreciate your efforts in testing your Versa Lite when swimming. Our team will continue working to improve our services and enhance your experience with our products.

About the MySwimPro, I've checked their website and as @LZeeW mentioned, it seems that the Versa Lite isn't supported. You can always get in touch with this app team to receive more details.

If you need anything else, don't hesitate to reply back.

[Judar]

Thanks. After some testing and research, I can confirm that Versa lite is compatible with Strava, but only through the app, myswimpro. You can log your swim routine with myswimpro and it will log it with strava. Though the data is somewhat limited. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Judar. It's great to see you here again.

Thanks for the time you took to research these details, and letting me know your findings. I'm sure others will find your post very helpful. I'm glad that you were able to find how your Versa Lite works with MySwimPro app, and now you can be back to record your swim routines! Feel free to reply back if you have more questions about your Fitbit device.

Catch you later!

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