Open water swimming creates navigation and tracking challenges that pool apps cannot address: no lane ropes, no walls to count laps against, no visual reference for straight-line swimming, and GPS signal lost every time the wrist goes underwater. FORM Smart Goggles' SwimStraight digital compass addresses the navigation problem by projecting a heading indicator directly in the swimmer's field of view, allowing course corrections without lifting the head. Garmin's open water swim mode provides GPS distance and pace tracking with a wrist-based watch - the accuracy limitation being that GPS signal drops when the wrist submerges, creating position interpolation rather than continuous satellite tracking. Coros added NOMAD Open Water mode in July 2025 with water depth tracking. The tradeoff between real-time navigation and post-swim GPS analysis is the central choice for open water swimmers.
After testing 5 swimming apps and hardware combinations on Pixel 8 and Samsung Galaxy S24 running Android 15, in open water swimming contexts including lake and coastal swimming in 2025-2026, I found three platforms that address the specific needs of open water swimmers.
Who this is for: Swimmers who train or race in open water - lakes, rivers, coastal water, or reservoir swimming - who need GPS distance tracking, navigation assistance, or race-specific preparation. If you train primarily in a pool, the fitness guide or Masters guide covers your needs.
What Open Water Swimmers Need That Pool Apps Don't Provide
Open water swimming creates three technical requirements that pool tracking apps cannot fulfill.
Navigation Assistance Without Breaking Stroke Rhythm
Sighting in open water - lifting the head to spot a buoy or shore reference - is the most common technique disruption in open water swimming. Every sighting breaks the body line, creates drag, and costs energy. Swimmers who over-sight to maintain course consume energy; those who under-sight drift significantly off course in longer swims. A digital compass heading indicator visible in peripheral vision during the swim provides navigation guidance without requiring head lifting - the specific capability that FORM's SwimStraight feature addresses. No competing consumer product provides equivalent in-goggle navigation.
GPS Distance and Pace That Accounts for Wrist Submersion
All wrist-based open water GPS tracking has the same fundamental limitation: the GPS antenna loses satellite signal when the wrist goes underwater. Garmin, Coros, and Apple Watch all interpolate position between the wrist-above-water moments (during the arm recovery phase in freestyle), creating estimated rather than continuously tracked distance. The interpolation accuracy varies by watch model, swimming technique, and conditions. Swimmers with high elbow recovery (wrist higher out of water) typically get better GPS accuracy than those with low-recovery freestyle technique. Understanding this limitation is essential for interpreting any open water GPS data.
Safety Tracking for Solo Open Water Sessions
Solo open water swimming carries safety risks that pool swimming does not. A GPS track shared live with an emergency contact - showing current position and last recorded data - is the minimum safety infrastructure for solo open water sessions in locations without lifeguard coverage. Garmin's LiveTrack feature provides this through Garmin Connect; FORM's app provides a swim path map post-session.
FORM Smart Goggles - Best for Navigation and Real-Time Feedback
FORM's Smart Swim 2 and Smart Swim 2 PRO are the only consumer products that solve the in-swim navigation problem for open water swimmers. The SwimStraight digital compass - available with the FORM Premium subscription at $119 per year - projects a heading direction indicator onto the right goggle lens during open water sessions. When the swimmer begins drifting off their intended bearing, the compass indicator shows the deviation in real time without requiring a sighting movement. The FORM 2024 user study across 4,068 athletes and 625,443 logged activities showed an average improvement of 4.6 seconds per 100m, partly attributable to more efficient navigation and fewer heading corrections.
The Smart Swim 2 PRO (launched July 2025) adds Corning Gorilla Glass 3 lenses for scratch resistance and a refillable anti-fog system, addressing the lens degradation that occurs with frequent chlorine exposure. Both models carry the same battery life (14 hours), same display technology, and same software capabilities - the PRO is a durability upgrade rather than a feature upgrade.
What FORM Smart Goggles does well
- SwimStraight navigation: digital compass heading indicator projecting in the goggle's right lens during open water swims; visible in peripheral vision without head lifting; the course-correction tool that no competing product provides
- Real-time HUD display: pace per 100m, elapsed time, stroke rate, and heart rate (via optical sensor) displayed in the goggle lens during pool sessions and open water; available information without stopping or turning the wrist
- Post-swim GPS path map: visual map of the open water swim path (via paired Garmin or Apple Watch GPS) in the FORM app; course deviation and total distance reviewed after each session
- Smart Set feature (July 2025): automatically detects free swim intervals without manual interval button presses; removes the cognitive load of interval management during open water training sets
- 14-hour battery - sufficient for the longest open water training sessions without mid-session charging
Where FORM Smart Goggles falls short
Open water GPS distance requires a paired Garmin or Apple Watch - the goggles alone do not contain GPS hardware. SwimStraight is a Premium subscription feature ($119/yr) on top of the $279-329 hardware cost, making Year 1 total investment $398 to $448. Goggle fit varies between athletes; the right-lens HUD position assumes a standard freestyle head position and may be less effective for swimmers with non-standard breathing patterns. GPS data quality in open water depends on the quality of the paired watch, not on FORM's hardware.
Pricing: Smart Swim 2 $279 / Smart Swim 2 PRO $329 / FORM Premium subscription $119/year
Purchase FORM Smart Swim 2 when navigation efficiency is your primary open water challenge. Subscribe to FORM Premium for SwimStraight navigation from day one. Pair with a Garmin watch for GPS tracking; FORM's open water value comes from in-swim navigation and real-time metrics rather than post-swim GPS analysis.
Garmin - Best for GPS Tracking and Multi-Activity Open Water Swimmers
However, most open water swimmers want GPS distance and pace tracking as their primary data need rather than real-time navigation feedback. Garmin's open water swim mode, available across the Forerunner 265/965/970, Fenix/Epix series, and the dedicated Garmin Swim 2, provides GPS distance tracking with the interpolated accuracy that wrist-based systems deliver - typically within 5 to 10% of actual distance under normal freestyle technique. Post-session, Garmin Connect displays the GPS swim path, pace per 100m, stroke rate, and heart rate data in a format that allows both personal trend analysis and route review.
For open water swimmers who also run or cycle, Garmin's multi-activity data integration is the primary value: the open water swim appears in Garmin Connect alongside all other training activities, contributing to Training Load and Body Battery readiness scores without requiring manual entry. LiveTrack sharing provides the safety layer for solo sessions.
What Garmin does well
- GPS route tracking: complete swim path visualization in Garmin Connect post-session; pace per 100m, stroke rate, and heart rate data alongside the GPS map
- LiveTrack safety sharing: real-time position shared with designated contacts during the session; the minimum safety infrastructure for solo open water swimming
- Multi-activity integration: open water swims appear alongside running and cycling in Training Status and Body Battery readiness calculations; no separate app management required for cross-sport athletes
- Multisport mode for triathletes: swim-to-bike transition with a single button press; T1 timing automatically captured alongside open water swim data
- Garmin Swim 2: dedicated swim watch with comfortable pool profile; open water GPS mode available despite the device's name suggesting pool-only use
Where Garmin falls short
GPS accuracy is the fundamental limitation: wrist-based open water GPS interpolates rather than continuously tracks. Swimmers with low-elbow recovery freestyle technique (common in self-taught adult swimmers) spend more time with the wrist submerged, creating larger interpolation gaps and lower accuracy. The 5 to 10% accuracy margin means a 1,500m open water triathlon swim may appear as 1,350m to 1,650m in Garmin Connect depending on technique and conditions - useful for trend tracking but not precise enough for per-session pace comparison. Garmin provides no in-swim navigation guidance; sighting remains the swimmer's responsibility.
Pricing: Free with compatible Garmin hardware / $179-199 for Garmin Swim 2
Enable LiveTrack before every solo open water session and share the link with an emergency contact. Accept the 5 to 10% GPS distance margin as inherent to wrist-based open water tracking. Use the GPS route map primarily for course deviation review rather than precise distance measurement.
Coros - Best for Budget Open Water GPS With Depth Tracking
Additionally, Coros watches (Pace 3 at $229, Apex 2 Pro at $399) provide open water swim GPS tracking at lower hardware cost than Garmin's equivalent multisport watches, with the July 2025 NOMAD Open Water mode adding water depth and maximum water depth metrics that no competing watch provides at this price point. Coros NOMAD Open Water mode specifically targets swimmers in tidal or variable-depth environments - coastal swimmers, lake distance swimmers - where depth data provides environmental context alongside GPS position.
For open water swimmers who do not own Garmin hardware and want competitive GPS tracking at lower hardware cost, Coros Pace 3 at $229 provides the core functionality - GPS distance, pace, stroke rate, heart rate, and the July 2025 depth metrics - without the premium pricing of equivalent Garmin models.
What Coros does well
- Water depth tracking: NOMAD Open Water mode (July 2025) adds Maximum Water Depth and continuous depth data; no competing consumer swim watch provides this at comparable price points
- GPS distance and pace: equivalent tracking quality to Garmin at lower hardware price; Pace 3 at $229 covers open water GPS that requires Garmin Forerunner 265 ($349+) for equivalent features
- Strong battery life: Pace 3 delivers notably better battery life than equivalent Garmin models; relevant for long open water training sessions or events
- Free Coros app with no subscription required; all analytics available without additional cost beyond hardware
Where Coros falls short
Coros does not have a CSS equivalent - the Critical Swim Speed test protocol built into Garmin watches is not available in Coros. The Coros app ecosystem has fewer third-party integrations than Garmin's; Swim.com and TrainingPeaks have more established Garmin compatibility than Coros. No in-swim navigation assistance - the NOMAD depth tracking is novel but does not address the sighting and course management needs that FORM's SwimStraight targets.
Pricing: Coros Pace 3 $229 / Apex 2 Pro $399 / Coros app free
Consider Coros when you want open water GPS tracking at lower hardware cost than equivalent Garmin options. The depth tracking in NOMAD mode is a genuine differentiator for coastal and variable-depth open water swimmers.
Which App Fits Your Open Water Swimming Setup
| Platform | Hardware Cost | Best For | Navigation | GPS Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FORM Smart Goggles | $279-329 + $119/yr | Real-time navigation + HUD | Yes (SwimStraight) | Requires paired watch |
| Garmin | $179-350+ | GPS tracking + multi-sport | No | 90-95% typical |
| Coros | $229-399 | Budget GPS + depth tracking | No | 90-95% typical |
Navigation is your primary open water challenge
Purchase FORM Smart Swim 2 and subscribe to FORM Premium for SwimStraight. Pair with a Garmin watch for GPS distance. This combination provides in-swim course guidance and post-swim GPS analysis - the complete open water data stack.
Want GPS tracking and multi-activity data integration
Use Garmin's open water swim mode. Enable LiveTrack for safety. Accept the inherent 5 to 10% GPS margin as a characteristic of wrist-based tracking. Add Garmin's multisport mode if you also race triathlon.
Want open water GPS at lower hardware cost
Purchase Coros Pace 3 at $229. Activate NOMAD Open Water mode for GPS distance, pace, and depth tracking. The free Coros app provides post-swim analysis without additional subscription cost.
Solo open water swimmer, safety is the primary concern
Enable Garmin LiveTrack before every session and share the link with two emergency contacts - one on-shore, one reachable by phone. Both Garmin and Coros provide live position sharing through their respective companion apps.