Garmin Connect - OWS time vs moving time vs elapsed time

lucyloulucylou MidwestNew Member

Apologies if this is answered elsewhere, looked & did not see it. Just now extending my OWS beyond Ironman distance and want to make sure I understand my swim data.

I use a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro. No autopause feature available for OWS activity. Garmin Connect reports time, moving time, elapsed time. I commonly see data relationships like this:

Time 70 mins
Moving time 60 mins
Elapsed time 90 mins - this one, i understand

I get elapsed time, but can anyone explain "time" vs "moving time"?

I'm not just standing around out there. Is it counting the brief moments when I sight, or tread for a few seconds, as "not moving"?

TIA for any insight.

Comments

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin
    edited May 2022

    Found via google:

    https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=k5TPjwyAWi5f4hnObUAVf7

    • Elapsed time: duration from when the activity started to when the activity ended
    • Time: elapsed time minus time when the watch was manually or automatically paused
    • Moving time: duration when the watch detects you are moving. Close to worthless for OW swimming, at the speed of most swimmers, especially slower swimmers. Gps watches just aren’t sensitive enough.
  • lucyloulucylou MidwestNew Member
    edited May 2022

    Yes, I too had previously found that via Google but it does not address my swim-specific questions above. It's just a general explanation, not specific to the OWS activity, which doesn't even allow auto-pause.

    The Garmin doesn't just use GPS to track swimming - it also uses accelerometer + gyroscope, so I'm interested in understanding what "non-moving" time really means in practical terms.

    ETA - I find the swim distance tracking - which DOES rely on GPS + some amount of dead reckoning - to be quite reliable. I've tested it against other devices and that's also consistent with DCR's tests of this specific model.

  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    Your swim specific questions are answered in my previous post, if you read it carefully.

    "Moving time: duration when the watch detects you are moving. Close to worthless for OW swimming, at the speed of most swimmers, especially slower swimmers. Gps watches just aren’t sensitive enough."

    I'm not just standing around out there. Is it counting the brief moments when I sight, or tread for a few seconds, as "not moving"?

    Impossible to say. Again, these watches are not sensitive enough to do this reliably or accurately.

  • gregorywannabegregorywannabe Senior Member

    I have a Swim 2 garmin, and the ows mode is not too bad at getting the distance via gps correct, IF you are doing a longish point to point or out and back course. Not great at "laps". I sometimes swim within a shark net
    (mostly swim outside it though) that is a known 300m long. Distances, even for something short, e.g. 6 laps for 1800m ALWAYS come in 50+m short as the gps never properly catches up at the turns. Strangely enough, a friend with a garmin 745 is always over by 50-100m when in the net.

    My friend's 745 data (pace, stroke rate, etc.) is smoothed very aggressively, whereas my swim2 looks like raw data and is very spiky.

    My swim2 also gives very different stroke rates between ows (31) and pool modes (26), even though I am swimming the "same". I would have thought they should match as I assume they are both using accelerometers do figure it out, unless ows uses gps in addition to accel? BTW the 31spm is "correct" and the 26spm is "dodgy".

    gw

  • lucyloulucylou MidwestNew Member

    @gregorywannabe said:
    I have a Swim 2 garmin, and the ows mode is not too bad at getting the distance via gps correct, IF you are doing a longish point to point or out and back course.

    Thx so much for your detailed comments & data. My out and back is 5 miles total and I agree, distance is both accurate and consistent.

    Still wondering what Garmin considers "moving" vs "non-moving" time though...

  • gregorywannabegregorywannabe Senior Member

    I suspect when it thinks you're not swimming, which would be when it thinks your stroke rate is zero? I always get a larger non-moving time if I do 4k in a 300m net compared to a 2k out and 2k back.

    gw

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