Swimming and the Forerunner
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Recording open water and lap swims
There are numerous swimming activities recorded using the Forerunner series at MB. The key is to keep the device under your swim cap with the receiver, Garmin logo vertical, pointed up. Some will take the extra precaution of putting the device in a baggie and then under the swim cap (baggie not completely necessary for FR205/305, FR201 and FT201, but STRONGLY recommended for the FR301 and all devices with a mini-USB port). The placement of the unit on the top of your head helps ensure a decent GPS signal can be achieved. Of course, placing the device on top of your head makes it impossible to read. This method is for recording only. You will NOT get a signal with the device on your wrist. The downward motion of your swim-stroke loses GPS signal.
Recording Pool Swims
It's not possible to track indoor swims, but you can track outdoor pool swims. Due to the length of some pools, as well as the back and forth motion of lap swimming, distance information isn't very accurate. Also, flip turns are best avoided, because the GPS signal will drop-out.
Precautions
The wrist is not a good spot for the swim because the GPS loses its fix between strokes. Also, some users have reported damaging units while wearing them unprotected on their wrists.
Examples
MBlog Post: Gary Emich - Tracking Escapes (http://blog.motionbased.com/2006/02/_have_you_ever_.html)
Open Water, San Francisco dstark (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=5464)
Hawaii Ironman, 2004 dstark (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=8801)
Wisconsin Ironman, 2005 bradc (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=266665)
