Versa for competitive swimming

[cass_lewis]

I swim for my college and am looking to start tracking my swimming. I have had a Fitbit for a few years and would like to continue using one, however I'm unsure what type of watch I should get to correspond with swimming. I can be in the pool for up to three hours at a time and want to make sure what I purchase will last despite the extensive use in the water. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

[lenny4d · Accepted solution]

>> however I'm unsure what type of watch I should get to correspond with swimming. 

It depends on EXACTLY what you want to track! And what you want to see on your watch in real-time! For competitive swimming you definitively should also consider Garmin.

Fitbit Charge 3, Versa and Ionic are all watertight, but really only track laps and not much else, and not necessarily super-accurate either.

[connorl]

Be careful. Fitbit says that they are water resistant to 50 meters. Mine and many many others have failed just swimming laps, and the warranty on any replacement is only 90 days, and many of the replaced Versas fail in the water again, some have had this happen 4 times! It's a combination of false advertising and / or faulty manufacturing! I am not likely going to buy a Fitbit watch again 😞 even though out of the water I have liked the watch.

[t.parker]

It really depends what your expectations are. From all the watches I have tried, Fitbit has the poorest implementation of swim tracking. There is no pace clock, there is no open water swimming support, there is no HR measuring and water resistance is rather lottery. If you are serious about tracking your swimming sessions I recommend to look for a proper sports watch that suits your needs regardless the brand.

Edit: I didn't notice it was an old thread somebody dug out 😉

[connorl]

Thanks.

Even though this is an old thread, the Fitbit community posts show that users very recently are still having issues with the Versa not being waterproof and dealing with the lousy warranty support from Fitbit.

Do you have any swimming watch suggestions? I have pretty much lost confidence in Fitbit for the way they have dealt with this issue and in my mind lied about the Versa being waterproof.

Thanks

Leslie

[t.parker]

In general, triathlon watches used to have best swimming support, like Garmin Fenix 5S, Polar Vantage series (and latest Ignite), Suunto Spartan and S series. I would look around Garmin and Polar due to best ecosystem and analytics software. Suunto, despite having great reliable devices, has a lot to catch up with software. All of them can track you HR in water (OHR and external sensor), some support useful for training pace clock (double check with Polar, I am not sure about it) and open water swimming (it is a must among triathlonists). Look at the features, whether the watch has it before you buy. I went with Fenix watch and it has all I need for several sports I do but your requirements may be different. Even spending more on the watch that is going to last couple of years is better investment than Fitbit lottery 🙂 I learnt that hard way.

[connorl]

Ya, I learned the hard way as well. I could kick myself for not doing thorough research first. Most of the explanations online for Versa rave about it, but of course those sites are benefiting financially from Fitbit referrals 😞

Thanks again, I will look into Garmin (my buddy has one) and Polar thoroughly before making my next move.

All the best 🙂

Leslie