The 6 Best Fitness Watches for Swimmers
Do you love to be in water? Do you love to swim? Or, maybe you’re a swimmer? If the answer is yes, we might have something in store for you!
We all know that…
When it comes to fitness, knowledge is power.
A combination of proper diet and exercise will surely give you the body you dream of!
Now, there are plenty of exercises or physical activities that you can try.
But…
If you’d rather hit the water than the road, finding a good fitness watch to track your performance is an investment you need to make for your fitness journey.
It’s not a secret that over the past five years, running and cycling trackers have grown incredibly popular, but performance insights for swimmers have been lacking. While there are options, the selection of waterproof sports watches and fitness trackers is limited.
Must Read:
15 Best Android Fitness Apps for Staying in Shape
Android Smart Watch: The Ultimate Guide
The 10 Best Android Smartwatches: Ultimate List
Here’s the deal:
The best fitness tracker watches for swimmers will track the data you need to help you push past setbacks and hit a new personal best. Some key performance functions that most swimmer fitness trackers have included are calories consumption counter, distance measurement, stopwatch, stroke count, and a stroke rate sensor.
Pretty amazing, right?!
Of course, you should ensure that their waterproof rating is at least 1ATM. But, you should also consider your comfort in wearing the device while swimming.
Besides the basic trackers, there’s a number of options available in the market.
So…
If you are just going to use your fitness tracker inside the pool, you can opt for a cheaper one.
But, if you want smartwatches that can monitor your stats in real-time or pay for purchases with a simple tap…
You can expect to pay more.
With so many options to choose from, buying a good swimming fitness tracker can be confusing. But don’t worry!
We’re here to help you discover the best fitness tracker to uncover areas you might need to work on, give a gentle nudge to get you back in the water, and motivate you to live a better and healthier life.
Best Fitness Watch for Swimmers
Best overall fitness watch for swimmers | Samsung GearFit2 Pro |
Cheapest fitness watch for swimmers | Moov Now |
Highly Recommended | Fitbit Ionic |
Best Value fitness tracker for swimming | Polar V800 |
Best waterproof fitness tracker | Garmin Vivoactive 3 |
Best fitness tracker with GPS | Fitbit Ionic |
Best fitness tracker in heart-rate monitoring | Garmin Vivoactive 3 |
Runner Up | Misfit Shine 2 Swimmer’s Edition |
Samsung GearFit2 Pro
The Android-friendly Samsung GearFit2 Pro can withstand 5ATM of water pressure and do wonders! Not only is it perfect for pools and showers, it also has an attractive touchscreen design!
But wait… there’s more!
It includes GPS tracking, sleep and heart rate monitoring, and can even show notifications from your smartphone. Furthermore, the GearFit2 Pro allows you to store music on your device so you can bring it anywhere you go!
Do you want to know the best part?
Samsung has teamed up with Speedo On to give you the best swim expertise available from a fitness tracker! Cool, right?! With the Speedo On app pre-installed, you can easily track, analyze, and improve your swimming.
The Speedo On app is even touted as the app made for swimmers by swimmers. In this app, you’ll have access to personalized training plans as well as single workouts. These are all crafted by the world’s best coaches and athletes to help you push beyond your current abilities.
Fitbit Ionic
This bad boy comes with a beautiful big display where you can monitor your swim sessions in real-time. Plus, the onboard music storage gives you around 2.5 GB to enjoy motivational soundtracks to fuel your workout without your phone.
Though lacking more advanced features like automatic stroke detection, the waterproof Fitbit Ionic offers swim tracking and a built-in GPS antenna that allows you to quickly find satellites when cross-training with running or cycling, it’s worth it for it’s’ price.
Garmin Vivoactive 3
As the most advanced fitness watch designed with swimmers in mind, the Garmin Vivoactive 3 has all the expected features, like heart rate monitoring and accurate time and distance tracking, but it also offers extra options like Garmin Pay, letting you leave your wallet at home and pay for purchases directly from your wrist.
Swimming with the Garmin Vivoactive 3 is easy. It’s waterproof up to 5ATM and features a lot of metrics that automatically records swimming intervals, lanes, arm strokes, and swim style. During recovery periods, there’s an option to pause the interval timer to avoid distortion of the measurements and arm movements during breaks.
With more than 15 pre-installed apps to guide you through yoga, cycling, rowing, swimming, and more, you can also create your own workouts and load them onto the watch. If you’re looking for a swimmer-friendly watch with all the bells and whistles, the Garmin Vivoactive 3 is a smart choice.
Misfit Shine 2 Swimmer’s Edition
As a more budget-friendly option, the Misfit Shine 2 Swimmer’s Edition tracks laps and swim distance with accuracy. In addition to automatically tracking steps, distance, calories, and sleep cycles, it also offers vibration alerts for call and text notifications from your smartphone.
Designed for non-stop wear, the smart button can control music, lights, and more with connected devices and services.
Made of durable aircraft-grade aluminum, perhaps the best feature of this lightweight fitness tracker for swimmers, besides the industry-leading accuracy, is the long battery life that lasts up to six months at a time.
Moov Now
Another affordable option when it comes to waterproof fitness trackers for swimming is the Moov Now. It also has a swim-tracking side-by-side with audio coaching and rep counting. In the pool, it automatically tracks and syncs to your phone laps, distance, pace and time, so you can monitor your improvements on the go.
Like the Misfit Shine 2, the Moov Now has a long-lasting battery that powers the device for up to six months. The main issue with this as compared to more expensive swimming trackers is the data is only visible in the smartphone app and not on your wrist.
Regardless, this is a great lower-cost option that offers similar features to the more expensive swim trackers without the unnecessary extras.
Polar V800
This tracker works best for adult swimmers with a higher level of technique. The Polar V800 is optimized for time, distance, and pace accuracy. In addition to the metrics you’d expect, like pace, distance, and stroke rate, it identifies your swimming style and gives you a SWOLF score to better improve your swimming ability and efficiency.
For serious sports enthusiasts and professional athletes, the Polar V800 is an advanced training watch and fitness tracker. It has a heart rate sensor for even better accuracy while training and swimming. It also has a GPS fitness watch that keeps track of your speed, distance, and route when cross-training.
Seriously, what more could you ask for?
Suggested reads:
6 Best Samsung Smartwatches and Smart Fitness
Choosing the Best Android Watch for Fitness and Weight Loss
Apps for Samsung Gear S2: 10 Best Fitness Apps for Android
FAQs
Last Lap
Though some fitness trackers are more accurate than others, there is some variation among even the best solutions. Regardless of the price range you’re looking for, these fitness trackers are definitely worth the money. These fitness trackers for swimmers will track your stats so you can focus on performing your best.
And if you’re looking for a phone you can leave poolside, check out our list of the waterproof Android phones!
What’s your go-to tracker for swimming stats? Tell us all about it in the comment section below!
I use COUNTU Goal as my daily swimming tracker. It’s finger ring device and fairly easy to use. COUNTU Goal has a very useful function, lap/time vibrate alarm function. Would recommend.