Overthinking your stroke perhaps?
For me fatigue shows first in swimming, then running, then cycling.
So do you just get in, press start, swim and stop whenever you like with the timer constantly going? You manually track everything based on total elapsed time?
You’re definitely missing out. I’d be almost certain whatever watch you have has the auto lap setting if you cant remember to press lap at the start and end of each interval. And in activating laps, you get the rest screen. This gives you info such as last interval duration, your rest time, your off time, etc. You can set it up however you like with whatever data fields you prefer.
The rest screen was the biggest development between the 910 and 920 iterations of Garmins. It was truly transformative.
Lap pace alerts are also excellent. Set the pace you want to hold and then the watch will give you a little vibration every x.xx amount of seconds so you can aim to be hitting the wall consistently at the buzz. Especially helpful over longer intervals to stop you starting off fast and slowing. Which if you were doing those regular 1500s would be a big benefit.
Edit - just strava stalked your device info. You’re a weirdo using a mix of Garmin and Wahoo products (!) and have a Wahoo watch. In that case, no idea! But I can’t imagine wahoo didn’t include the lap functionality, even if the Rival watch in general hasn’t played out so well
Edit 2 - definitely has auto lap functionality, so I would think it must have a rest screen
https://support.wahoofitness.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017624259-RIVAL-Lap-Swimming-Auto-Intervals-Issues
thanks… mission today is to understand lap function! Will read that.
The Wahoo Elemnt Rival is not going so well and I wish I’d stuck with Garmin
Swimming seems like a random number generator in lap mode, typically claiming I have done between 150% and 200% of the true distance. It is so far off the mark I am currently just using stopwatch function and tracking the distance manually.
Will read the article in case I’m doing something wrong
Also the Bluetooth with android is really patchy & slow, and it won’t sync or display notifications properly
On the plus side, battery life is massive
edit: here’s some typical nonsense, I keep it private on Strava because it’s embarrassing. It was 1500m not 2700m ![]()
Edit: DOH, just following some links it looks like the default lap length is 50m, it wasn’t obvious how to change it (long hold menu button while workout selected but not started), but I have done now. Maybe I’m being hard on the Wahoo & have removed “don’t get one comment” . Although the UI is not massively intuitive at the very least, and I am still having connectivity & sync issues.
anyway: planned session this morning is 400 w/u, 8 x 100 off 2 mins, 200 kick, 8 x 50 off 1 min, 200 w/d. So it should read 2000m but let’s see.
The drill mode on Garmin watches is essential for ensuring you are recording the correct distance - especially when doing one arm drills or kicking.
Well how embarrassing - the Wahoo works just fine and I was driving it wrong ![]()
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Did 200m easy swim in the middle rather than kick, realised that was probably not going to work.
thanks @stenard ![]()
every day’s a school day
50m is a very bad default length though.
PS @Doonhamer , is it a mining area where you train?
Just wonder if you have to watch out for any shafts
Good to hear you’re on a better direction. Did you get a rest timer screen with useful info like the Garmin one?
As @AndS said, for drills that are not “standard swimming”, there should be a drill mode where you use it as a timer and then afterwards enter the correct distance you swam. So anything one arm, kick, etc. On Garmin stuff like catch up, fist, etc, generally works OK on the normal swim mode as the arms are largely doing normal things.
One thing I did see on the Wahoo was manual editing of data on the app after. That’s handy and not something Garmin offers. So if it does get a length or two wrong, you can correct it directly in the app. On Garmin you have to use a separate website and upload the fit file to manually fix. Which is a faff. That said, I hardly ever get inaccurate swims on the latest version of watches
I can understand why you might think that after a quick glans.
There is something about it getting harder the more strokes you take, but not sure I can quite put my finger on it.
It was generous of @fruit_thief to put that screenshot of my swim up, I wouldn’t have been that vein.
Intervals and quick spurts can often be physically draining.
Q. Easy freestyle swimming - what pace do people consider easy, relative to harder efforts?
Is it possible to swim too slow & learn bad habits?
Continuous swimming but with slow arms. Good way to help with technique as you are slowed down and can micro adjust on the go.
I only have one pace that i swim at, When i’ve not been for ages it’s like 2:10/100m. If i’ve been for a few weeks in a row, it’s just under 2:00/100m.
This is the limit of my ability! ![]()
It’s relative, when I restarted swimming in Feb 1:40 pace felt hard so 2:00 would probably have felt easy. After a few months 1:20 now feels pretty hard and 1:40 fairly easy, at least in the pool. You’re pretty handy so I’d imagine 1:40-2:00 pace would feel pretty relaxed.
ETA: 2:00 per 10 pace would probably feel pretty leisurely, certainly thinking about your stroke or body position.
A few seconds per hundred slower than a moderate pace.
Yes. It that’s a function of form, speed is indirect. Same for runnning imo.
Thanks- I was thinking about the “recovery / easy” efforts that our old swim coach used to build in to sets
For example 4 x 100m off 1m45, 100m easy, 4 x 50m off 1 minute, 100 easy.
What’s the purpose of the easy? Can it be too easy? Can it be too hard? Why not just get out and have a biscuit for 2 minutes then hop back in?
I think there’s a heap of reasons; recover for next hard session, keep HR elevated, reset your form, over all number of quality strokes…
But if you’re gassed absolutely lie on the side gasping like a wounded walrus as I do after a 1:30 effort until your shame centre starts functioning again.
Same as track work really, and intervals on the bike.




