Fitness Tracker for Swimming

BettyM1017

Hey everyone! I'm looking for a multi-exercise fitness tracker, including for swimming. I have a Fitbit HR Charge (first generation) that I really love. However, I'll be adding swimming to my workout calendar this summer and for a variety of reasons, I need to keep an eye on my heart rate.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a waterproof fitness tracker/heart rate monitor that can track my running, biking, and swimming? Thanks!

bossymom15

I have a Garmin vívosmart HR ‑ Activity Tracker with Heart Rate Monitor.... Wore it on vacation, pools, ocean had no problem. I knew I needed something waterproof, I can't tell you how many times I've gotten caught in the rain out running. I've enjoyed it.

Tacklewasher

Are you doing open water swims, or pool swims?

If it is just the pool, I suggest the VivoActive HR. You put in lane lenght etc. and it apparently works well (I've not tried swimming). But if it open water swims, it doesn't work (isn't designed to) and you would need something like a Garmin swim and chest strap.

Mind you, if you are just keeping an eye on HR while swimming, than the VAHR will do that. It just doesn't keep the GPS lock when swimming, so it doesn't track distance well.

BettyM1017

Thanks for the replies! For now it's just for pool swimming but I will need it occasionally for open swim.

WhitneyDurham777

It sounds like you are getting into triathlon. It could be worth it to look into one of the higher end Garmins. I have a Fenix 5 that I love, but I used to have a 910 and an Epix. The high end ones can connect to other sensors and do a better job moving from activity to activity. I use mine in conjunction with power meters, heart rate monitors, foot pods and it does a great job on keeping me on course. Just a thought.

BettyM1017

WhitneyDurham777 wrote: »

It sounds like you are getting into triathlon..

Yes, I'm starting to dabble into the idea of triathlon training. I really enjoy running and biking so I'm adding swimming to the fun and going from there.

So far, Garmin really seems like the way to go.

tinkerbellang83

Tacklewasher wrote: »

Are you doing open water swims, or pool swims?

If it is just the pool, I suggest the VivoActive HR. You put in lane lenght etc. and it apparently works well (I've not tried swimming). But if it open water swims, it doesn't work (isn't designed to) and you would need something like a Garmin swim and chest strap.

Mind you, if you are just keeping an eye on HR while swimming, than the VAHR will do that. It just doesn't keep the GPS lock when swimming, so it doesn't track distance well.

I tested out mine the other week it was spot on at counting lengths and calorie burn seemed about right.

NorthCascades

WhitneyDurham777 wrote: »

It sounds like you are getting into triathlon. It could be worth it to look into one of the higher end Garmins. I have a Fenix 5 that I love, but I used to have a 910 and an Epix. The high end ones can connect to other sensors and do a better job moving from activity to activity. I use mine in conjunction with power meters, heart rate monitors, foot pods and it does a great job on keeping me on course. Just a thought.

+1

MeanderingMammal

The question becomes about how important it is to have contemporaneous HR or whether you're comfortable with HR data collection after the swim.

If the latter then the Garmin 735XT, Garmin 935, Garmin 920 or Garmin Fenix 3/5 would do the trick, along with an HRM Swim chest strap.