Measuring heart rate while swimming

Former Member
Former Member
Hello everyone. I'm looking for a way to measure my heart-rate while swimming. My main requirements are (please excuse my bad english): The device has to display the heart rate while i'm swimming. I'm a newbie and need to see my heart rate during my training. Optical heart rate sensors don't seem to be very reliable under water. Thus i would prefer a non-optical device. I would like to spend under 150£ if possible Thank you!
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 3 years ago
    Heart rate while swimming could be deceptive. I read a scholarly paper (long time ago, no links, sorry) that said people's heart rates are much slower in water than doing the equivalent level of exercise on land. They said it wasn't clear why but the slow-down was extreme enough that aerobic levels of exercise did not have typical aerobic heart rates. They carefully said that they believed there was aerobic benefit just the same - there was evidence to that effect - but the jury was sitll out, and that studies to get a definitive answer would be long complicated and expensive. Sorry to make a vague "I heard once..." post, but perhaps some others could clarify.
  • Heart rate while swimming could be deceptive. I read a scholarly paper (long time ago, no links, sorry) that said people's heart rates are much slower in water than doing the equivalent level of exercise on land. They said it wasn't clear why but the slow-down was extreme enough that aerobic levels of exercise did not have typical aerobic heart rates. the equivilant would be just that and produce the same heart rate...DUH! if the heart rate is not the same then it is NOT THE SAME!!! tiny little shoulders compared to glutes/quads look at the world records at sprint events...running 200m faster than the time of a 50m free ---- 4:1 ratio (any think they can go 6.5 miles --- 1/4 of marathon --- in under 2hrs? sit down sy you are banned)
  • My heart rate reaches one peak just before getting on the block, and a second just before entering the warmdown pool. Heart rate while swimming could be deceptive. I read a scholarly paper (long time ago, no links, sorry) that said people's heart rates are much slower in water than doing the equivalent level of exercise on land. They said it wasn't clear why but the slow-down was extreme enough that aerobic levels of exercise did not have typical aerobic heart rates. I did google research on the topic and this was the first result: “hydrostatic (water) pressure pushes blood out to the extremities, and in combination with more supple blood vessels, stroke volume and cardiac output increases. This means that the heart becomes more efficient, pumping more blood. With this kind of blood flow, heart ratecan be lowered”
  • Heart rate while swimming could be deceptive. I read a scholarly paper (long time ago, no links, sorry) that said people's heart rates are much slower in water than doing the equivalent level of exercise on land. They said it wasn't clear why but the slow-down was extreme enough that aerobic levels of exercise did not have typical aerobic heart rates. Pure speculation - because water is calming & meditative. Theoretical under-pinning - see the Aquatic Ape theory. My advice - learn to understand your own actual exertion through your own perception. If you do enough work with a pace clock and learn how your body reacts at different speeds, you should be able to understand, without any more technology than a pace clock, how hard you're working. If you work hard more often, you'll get fitter. Whether you'll lose weight or not though depends on many more factors, diet being king.
  • I have never had trouble getting my heart rate over 170 doing high intensity swimming