Some of the new swimming features in Garmin’s Swim 2 watch are continuing to be rolled down to other devices and are now out on the 945 and FR245, albeit in beta. But you can get them now if you like
These are the new features in detail and the one that I think is most useful is AUTO REST. Pool swimming seems to have become a little comedyesque these days where it seems now that everyone in my lane HAS to press that unpause button before heading off. That’s one reason why I’ve enjoyed using FORM’s SWIMMING GOGGLES as they have a similar auto-pause feature built-in as well as now beaming HR live into your goggles.
- Add Garmin Swim 2 Features: advanced swim workouts, auto rest, Critical Swim Speed (945 only), Swim Pacing Alerts (945 only)
- Added all-day respiration, respiration widget, and breathwork activity
- Improved treadmill calibration
- Added Pilates
I actually did a pilates session this Monday and was disappointed to see there was no pilates sports profile. Well, there is now.
Last Updated on 21 January 2026 by the5krunner
My favourite kit and nutrition
- Injinji – Runners protect your toes. Avoid discomfort and minor injury. Run more. Run faster. I use them.
- Garmin 90-degree charging adapter — The small adapter that keeps your charging cables tidy. Essential for race day. I use one.
- Garmin charging puck — the fastest and most reliable way to top up your Garmin before a session. I use one.
- Ravemen FR300 — Front light that mounts directly under your Garmin or Wahoo head unit. Keeps your bars clean and your beam pointed where it matters. I use one.
- Body Glide – The blue anti-chafe stick that all swimmers and many runners use. I use it.
- Maurten — The race nutrition trusted by elite athletes. Gels and drink mixes engineered to be easy on the stomach. I use them.
- Garmin Varia RTL515 — A radar rear light that alerts you to vehicles approaching from behind. Pairs with your Edge or Garmin watch. I use this model.
- Favero Assioma Pro RS2 — The power-meter pedals most serious cyclists choose. Accurate, easy to move between bikes. I use this model.
- Garmin Forerunner 970 — A serious choice for a pro-grade triathlon watch. I use this.
- Polar H10 — My daily driver for accurate, waking HRV readings.
- Wahoo ELEMNT Roam 3 — The bike computer that has the feature Garmin lacks: usability. I use mine on most rides.
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID
Forerunner 645 once again missing out. Firstbeat license excuse does not stick for these features. They should just stop selling it at this point.
yeah that’s an interesting omission.
there’s obviously the 655 coming soon but even with that in mind, it doesn’t seem right that the 245 gets the features and the 645 does not.
Very weird indeed, the 645 never got the PacePro (not a Firstbeat feature) update as well.
All-day respiration, respiration widget, and breathwork activity? Is this the Firstbeat Respiration Rate Metric? If yes, this update is very very interesting indeed.
https://www.firstbeat.com/en/consumer-feature/respiration-rate/
FB’s resp rate is a relatively basic feature based on hrv. it’s on Marq/f6/945/530 and 830 and more recently being rolled out to other watches.
645 is from spring 2018 and you would have though should still get the features you’re talking about as it is still the top pure running watch from garmin (until the 655 next spring).
The key thing I’m seeing in all these updates, the optical HR sensor pack on the 645 is “previous gen” compared to all the rest. Likely the actual coding for that sensor is different, and no real incentive for them to back-code for a dead-end, 2yo product. Sucks for owners of that, sometimes you don’t know you are buying the “last of a line” until it’s too late.
Spring :/ :/ ??!! Well was hoping to get a 655 after hearing that the 245 had a lot of problems with the buttons…. nothing to expect for the ces 2020 ??!!
i don’t know the answer.
A big CES announcement could of course be possible. IDK when retial availability would happen…it’s often later.
I’ve found a few of the “various other […] improvements” in the 945 3.77 beta:
– Estimated sweat loss in an activity (this wasn’t on Garmin Connect on my run Thursday morning but is on today’s run – I installed beta on Thursday afternoon). Hydration tracking widget is not yet supported, but maybe this shows it’s on the way?
– under the controls menu (wheel of shortcuts on long hold power) you can add an Airplane Mode. I’ve found this will cut power consumption in watch mode by about 1/2 (uses about 0.2% bat/hr vs 0.4% in not-airplane mode)
There’s probably more I haven’t stumbled across yet.
that’s interesting.
i’ve never tried out that feature and my watches invariably always say that the temp is 30 degrees celcius…give or take ie influenced by body temp. maybe this would work with a phone present and hence weather info?
it would also need a ‘sweat like a donkey yes/no’ option adding in there somewhere for me
I think it works with only weather, like in the Edge series.
The in watch temp shouldn’t be visible to users, its only for the barometer sensor. I don’t understand why Garmin made it visible, its confussing.
The emoji support like in the latest Fenix beta was added as well, but not mentioned because Garmin can’t do proper change logs. Neither on their devices, nor on their apps.