How to stop losing count of your laps in the pool

Why the usual way fails

Counting competes with everything else your head is doing in the water: stroke, breathing, turns, the pace clock. Automatic swim tracking on a watch guesses lengths from your arm movement, and drills, kick sets, open turns or a stop halfway down the pool can throw that guess off. Poolside counters and a row of coins on the deck only work if you stop at the same end every time and remember to move one. And your phone is no help at all, because it is in a locker.

How Tally Counter App for Wear OS helps

Tally Counter turns a Wear OS watch into a manual lap counter. You decide when a lap counts and add it with one tap at the wall, or with the rotating crown or bezel if your watch has one. The count lives on the watch and needs no phone, account or network, so the phone can stay in the locker. You can set a target for the session and turn on the optional haptics and sound if you want the watch to give you feedback. It never adds laps for you, and that is the point: the number changes only when you change it.

Step by step

1. Before you get in, create a counter and give it a name, such as Laps or Main set.
2. Pick the step size: 1 if you tap at every wall, 2 if you tap only at the start end and still want the total in lengths.
3. Set a target for the number of lengths you plan to swim.
4. Add the Tile or the watch-face complication so the count is one swipe or one glance away.
5. In the water, tap once per lap, or nudge the crown or bezel, and lock the counter when you stop to rest.
6. When you finish, write the total in your training log before you reset the counter for next time.

Tips

• Tap at one end only. Counting at every wall doubles your chances of missing one when you are tired. If you tap only as you push off from the start end, set the step to 2 and the counter still shows lengths.
• Lock the counter whenever you stop: resting at the wall, chatting to a lane mate, grabbing a towel. Wet hands and a wet sleeve are good at making stray taps, and a locked counter won't change until you unlock it.
• Give each part of the session its own counter, like warm-up, main set and kick, so one number never has to mean three things. There is room for up to eight, and each one keeps its own name and count.
• Check your watch's water rating before you take it in the pool. The app is a counter and does nothing to make a watch swim-proof. If your watch has a water lock mode, try the counter with it on in the shallow end first, so you know how the screen and crown behave before a long set.

Questions