Garmin Swim watch tracks your water workouts, we hit the pool (hands-on)

Garmin is adding a new product to its line-up of fitness watches, and this one is dedicated to workouts of the aquatic variety. The $150 Garmin Swim tracks your distance swum, average pace, workout time and more, and it uploads those stats to the web to help monitor your progress. Though it's meant to be a part of your exercise routine, the Garmin Swim watch looks like your average plastic digi-timepiece. The watch has six buttons with functions for viewing the time of day, scrolling through the menu options, controlling the timer, viewing the menu and entering workout mode. The setup takes some getting used to, but the illustrative icons on the watch helped us get into the rhythm quickly.

Getting started with the Swim simply entails entering the size of your pool, with options to measure in yards or meters. Once that info is uploaded, you press the swim button and are ready to get splashing. We spent a solid half-hour doing laps, and the Swim duly recognized and recorded that we varied our strokes. Stopping the timer each time we took a break created a new interval for our workout, with a rundown of the elapsed time, distance in meters, number of strokes, type of stroke, total laps, average speed and calories burned. That's a lot of data to pore over, and Garmin lets you wirelessly upload it all to the Garmin Connect site. To do this, you have to pair the watch with your computer using a USB ANT stick: once it works, it's an efficient, easy way to review your workout, but it took us a few tries before our laptop recognized the watch. Garmin says the watch's battery will last a full year, which is plenty of time to log some serious laps. For more about the Swim, check out the press info past the break. %Gallery-159003%

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

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Dive In and Make a Splash With The New Garmin Swim

OLATHE, Kan./June 25, 2012/Business Wire - Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced Garmin Swim™ – its first training watch designed specifically for swimmers that lets users track stroke type, stroke count, distance, pace, lengths and much more. This stylish thin watch also allows swimmers to track their workouts and drills in real-time. Garmin Swim was announced in preparation for the U.S. Masters Swimming Championships in Omaha, Nebraska July 5-8 where it will beprominently displayed.

"Garmin Swim will quickly replace the log books and journals so many swimmers have come to rely on for tracking their progress," said Dan Bartel, Garmin's vice president of worldwide sales. "At a glance, swimmers will know their time, distance, pace and be able to wear this watch as an everyday timepiece, allwithout having to worry about charging it."

Garmin Swim is ready to go right out of the box – swimmers need only to tell it the length of the pool they are swimming in and begin their workout. Its sleek profile allows it to cut right through the water, so it won't cause drag or slow swimmers down. Garmin Swim's battery lasts approximately one year and is easy to replace at home, so swimmers won't have to send it away to stay powered. To see Garmin Swim in action go to: www.garmin.com/swim.
With Garmin Swim on the wrist, swimmers can focus on their technique instead of what lap they are on. Garmin Swim automatically knows the stroke swimmers are using and tracks their lengths, strokes, distance, pace and more. With a few button presses, swimmers can also log drills or start timed sets without constantly monitoring the pool clock. Iteven calculates swimmers' swolf scores to help gauge efficiency, making it ideal for lap swimmers of all levels. The intuitive interface utilizes 6 buttons, so functions can be accessed quickly and easily.

Slim and attractive enough to be worn as a daily watch, Garmin Swim serves as a personal reminder of swimmers' goals. To help swimmers stay motivated, it displays their weekly accumulated distanceunder the time of day. Watch features include dual time zones and alarm-- so no more early morning excuses for not getting to the pool.

Upon completion of a workout, swimmers can upload their swim data to Garmin Connect™ (http://connect.garmin.com), a website for free online analysis. Here swimmers can quickly and easily view their workouts, track their totals, set goals, share workouts and data with coaches, friends and family and participate in an online fitness community of more than 80 million activities around the world. Through the magic of ANT+™ wireless technology and the USB stick that comes with the Garmin Swim, swimmers' workout data automatically transfers to their computer when in range. Garmin Connect is Mac® and Windows® compatible.

Garmin Swim is available now and has a suggested retail price of $149.99. Garmin Swim is the latest solution from Garmin's expanding fitness segment, which focuses on developing technologies and innovations to enhance users' lives and promotes healthy and active lifestyles. Whether it's running, cycling, or other athletic pursuits, Garmin fitness devices are becoming essential tools for athletes both amateur and elite. For more about features, pricing and availability, as well as information about Garmin's other fitness products and services, go to www.garmin.com/intosports, www.garmin.blogs.com and http://twitter.com/garmin.