Unlike lap swimming, open water swimming requires more software and technology to provide accurate results of your swimming activities, and this is swim watches come in. You need to achieve all these using a GPS because there’s no swim distance or a set of pools, unlike lap swimming which you can easily use simple monitors or sensors to effectively count your distance, pace, and stroke rate.
Presently, most swimming gear manufacturing companies have conducted research, and they’ve mastered swim watches that can help track your open water swimming accurately. Below are the best open water swim watches manufactured by renowned companies. These swim watches will provide really accurate results in tracking your open water swims to help you become a better swimmer or triathlete.
The Garmin Swim 2 is an excellent and most accurate open water swimming watch for tracking pool swims. It records your swim distance, pace, stroke count, stroke rate, stroke distance, heart rate, and SWOLF (measurement of your swimming efficiency). This super watch is compatible with both IOS and Android. Besides that, it has an enormous battery power that will last you 7 days when in smartwatch mode and 13 hours if you have switched it to GPS mode at all times. Overall, the Garmin Swim 2 is a great buy considering its awesome features, well-built design, GPS capabilities, and pricing.
This is another excellent premium multisport watch designed for elite athletes or anyone that wants to train like an elite athlete. The Polar Vantage V Watch allows you to track your physical activities and record your distance, pace, heart rate, cardio load, calories burned, and average- and maximum stroke rates. It is compatible with both IOS and Android, and it has an impressive battery life that can last up to 40 hours while in GPS mode.
In addition, its heart rate monitor is very accurate and will provide you with insightful data into how you’re performing during your workout. It also has training load pro & recovery pro features. Although it might not be as efficient as the Garmin Swim 2 Watch or Garmin Forerunner 945, it is really worth it. Most importantly, it’s not a waste of money considering all the features and extensive data this watch provides.
This is another incredible multisport watch similar to Polar Vantage V Watch. It can also track tons of activities with up to 80 built-in sport modes for other sports like running, cycling, and gym. The Suunto 9 Multi-Sport Watch also provides standard activity tracking features like sleep, steps, and calories. Besides those features, it has the best waterproofing, with it being able to withstand water in a depth of up to 120 meters. In addition, it has a decent battery life which can last you up to 120 hours on good use. This watch will track all of the standard swimming metrics as well as delivering a viewable map. All in all, Suunto 9 Multi-Sport Watch packs lots of awesome features and thus justifies its price.
The Coros Pace Watch is one of the budget-price swimming watches you can purchase online or in stores. It features a prominent strap made from premium materials. This watch tracks all major sports activities, including swimming, biking, triathlon, and running. It has a simple design, and it’s quite lightweight, making it good for swimmers- since it won’t be weighing your hand down or disrupting your stroke. In addition, the Coros pace has a solid battery life which lasts up to 30 days in standard mode and up to 25 hours in GPS mode, which is enough for a day or two training sessions. Coros Pace Watch also tracks all standard swimming metrics like the other watches.
Garmin Forerunner 945 is the ultimate all-around swimming, sports, and lifestyle watch that tracks your physical activities. It can track a wide range of additional swimming data such as your stroke rate, pace, calories burned, stroke type, and so on. It has some great lifestyle features built-in, and its tracking capabilities are similar to that of the Garmin Swim 2 Watch. This watch has a VO2 max indicator that will help you train better and smarter by indicating how you can perform based on altitude, heat, and your previous training loads. In addition, this watch’s training effect and load features will deliver you data on how your workouts match up against previous ones and show how they’re influencing the development of your endurance, speed, etc. Overall, Garmin 945 is a great watch with great lifestyle features and a sleek design at quite an affordable price.
