Top Tips to get the most out of your Garmin Fēnix 5 swimrun app

By Kelly Galante

In late 2014, we discussed with Garmin to see if we could make the first Swimrun app ever. In the beginning the application was limited to few transitions, which made it impossible to use on the ÖTILLÖ race course with more than 50 transitions. When finally launched, it allowed for enough transitions for the ÖTILLÖ course. Since then it has been a great tool for us.
– Michael Lemmel, Race Director ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series

The 2017 ÖTILLÖ World Championships certainly earned its place on CNN’s list as one of the toughest races in the world. “The challenging weather conditions added an extra element of adventure to the race, which was fun!” Pontus Lindberg and George Bjalkemo of Team Garmin joked while reflecting on their race back on September 4th.

Team Garmin finished an impressive 4th place after a gruelling 8:29:29 of gale force winds and driving rain, not to mention the 65km of running and 10km of swimming across the Stockholm archipelago.

“The length of the World Championship course is what separates it from the other races in the ÖTILLÖ world series, and makes it more unpredictable,” they added as they talk through the most challenging aspects of the race.

Team Garmin were joined in the race by Team Fēnix (Ida Enstedt and Mattias Hagerstrand), who completed the course in an admirable 12:23:39. “I had the best day ever!” Ida exclaimed just after finishing the race. “I really have to do this again …!”

Looking to get your place in the 2018 World Championships? Teams Garmin and fēnix explain how to get the most out of your Garmin Fēnix 5 swimrun app.

Tip #1

The Garmin fēnix 5 is the only GPS multisport watch with a swimrun app. Within the profile you can choose between Trail Running and Open Water feature and by pressing the lower right button to switch your transitions between the different profiles.

The swimrun profile provides pace, speed and elevation, as well as other key information. However, unlike other sports profiles, it allows you to seamlessly switch between trail running and open water swimming at the touch of the lap button, meaning you get an accurate account of your performance in the two sports.
“We use it for our training on a daily basis, for the purpose of pacing and analysing the sessions.” – Team Garmin

Tip #2

The fēnix 5X helps you to understand your surroundings and keeps you on-course with preloaded full-colour TOPO mapping for Europe. It has round-trip routing to help plan your training sessions and easy-to-read guidance cues to help navigate the trickiest of terrain, as well as data overlays on the map to highlight key information so you don’t have to switch screens while following your course.

“We used the maps on the fēnix 5X when practicing on the ÖTILLÖ race courses before the race to make sure we were familiar with the terrain.” – Team Garmin
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Tip #3

Once you’ve finished the race, turn your adventure into a legendary movie. The Relive function turns your efforts into a personal video, allowing you a bird’s eye view of your route to see where you’ve been and view your highlights.

Relive is a free, separate, online provider (www.relive.cc) for 3D Videos of runs, rides, hikes, etc. The end user needs to sign up on Relive to connect his/her Garmin Connect Account with the provider. After the activity is uploaded to Garmin Connect, you’ll automatically get a link sent to your email from which you can see your activity as a 3D Video and share it on social media.

Check out Team fēnix’s efforts at the World Championships: https://www.relive.cc/view/r9693260023

To find out more about the fēnix 5 series, head over to the Garmin website.

Garmin Connect

With the Garmin Connect database, you can store, analyse and follow your progress in your Garmin-supported training.

If your Garmin devices supports a WLAN function, your activity will automatically upload to Garmin Connect.

Alternatively, you can upload the data via Bluetooth with your mobile phone and Garmin device or plug your Garmin device into your computer and upload the data. Depending on your settings, you can share this data with your friends via social media or overlay some key stats of your activity on a picture located in your mobile phone and share this with the outside world.

Article first published in Swimrun Life Magazine Issue #4 (October 2017)