Best swimming watches UK 2022: sports watches and fitness trackers to track swims from Suunto, Garmin, Coris

A dedicated waterproof swimming watch (also called a fitness tracker) will help improve your swim stroke: here are the best, from Suunto, Garmin, Coris
Best swimming watches to track your swim, from Garmin, Suunto and FitbitBest swimming watches to track your swim, from Garmin, Suunto and Fitbit
Best swimming watches to track your swim, from Garmin, Suunto and Fitbit

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There’s no doubt that swimming is one of the best forms of exercise you can do.

Low impact and easy on your body, it still provides you with a great opportunity to raise your heartrate, stretch and flex your body and transport your mind into another dimension.

If you’re looking to take your swimming more seriously, a dedicated swimming watch can be your best friend, allowing you to hone your technique, measure your times as well as determine how to improve when it comes to pace and stroke.

A great swimming fitness tracker will do the drill logging for you!

Best swim watches at a glance:

What is classed as a swimming watch/swim fitness tracker?

It’s worth noting that conventional smartwatches from the likes of Samsung and Apple aren’t dedicated to this kind of exercise, so won’t be featured in this list.

Likewise running watches - because although they sometimes have swim modes, they’re unlikely to be designed for swimmers in mind and can be susceptible to letting water in, rather than being truly water resistant.

In this article, we’re only interested in the watches that are totally sealed against being submerged - often with dedicated swimming functions. That’s not to say other smartwatches can’t measure swimming well, they’re just not fine-tuned for it.

The ideal swim watch will measure your stroke rate, come with a heart rate monitor chest strap, be easy to read, and - if you’re an open swimmer - come complete with GPS tracking.

Here are a handful of our favourite swimming watches on the market at the moment

KEY SPECS:

Batteries included Yes

Screen size 1.4 Inches

Display type Digital - touchscreen

Dimensions L x W x H 50 x 50 x 16 millimetres

Compatible devices Android, iPhoneGPS tracking Yes

The Coros Vertix 2.0 is one of our all-time favourite adventure watches, so it’s worth noting that it has an excellent swim mode as well as all the other outward-bound orientated tracking it provides.

It connects seamlessly to a number of different GPS technologies, so we think it’d be a great option for open water swimming, and it also boasts incredible battery life, 32GB of storage for music and maps and a bright, clear screen.

It might be a bit bulky for some - it’s quite a weight on your wrist, but if you’re tracking your swims out in the open it is very much recommended.

KEY SPECS:

GPS, Heart Rate Monitor compatible

Special features Bluetooth, Waterproof

Compatible devices: smartphones

Battery cell composition Lithium-Cobalt

Screen size 2.6 Centimetres

Band material type Steel/Leather

Human interface input Buttons

It’s one of the more premium options on this list, but Garmin know a thing or two about creating niche tracking watches, and the Swim 2 is no exception to this.

It’s a great GPS swimming smartwatch option - monitoring heart rate, track distance, pace, stroke count and more in both pool and open water settings.

Pacing alerts, drills and dedicated workouts also allow you to track your progress efficiently and measure your improvement. One of the best options out there for dedicated swim training.

KEY SPECS:

Batteries included Yes

Human interface input Buttons

Item dimensions L x W x H 21 x 4.3 x 1.3 centimetres

Compatible devices Watch

Battery life 100 Hours

We’re a fan of Suunto’s ever-expanding range of mid to premium range smartwatches for workouts and training, and we think the Suunto 5 Peak is the best option if swimming’s your main sport.

We like how light it feels on the wrist, the GPS works very well and we also like the fact it syncs with your swim.com profile - the largest swim training and tracking community on the web.

It provides real-time swim tracking when it comes to stroke and performance, and additionally helps with interval training too.

The Suunto App also shows you where you can find popular open water swim spots all over the world too - a nice touch.

KEY SPECS:

Waterproof

Batteries included Yes

Human interface input Buttons

Salt water resistant

Although it’s simple in its concept and doesn’t necessarily have the same tracking options as some of the smart watches or swimming watches on this list, for £30 the Nabaiji Swimming Pool watch is an excellent option.

It is also incredibly simple to use - it will track strokes and swimming length for 25, 33 and 50 metre pools and has a nice no-frills, simplistic design.

It’s waterproof down to 30m and it’s easy to just change the batteries in the back.

No nonsense and a great buy if pool swimming is your core sport.

KEY SPECS:

Supported applications: Weather, Reminders, Phone, GPS, Heart Rate Monitor

Special feature GPS, Calorie Tracker, Heart Rate Monitor

Operating system Android;ios

Compatible devices Smartphone

Battery cell composition Lithium Ion

GPS tracking Yes

Fitbit hardly needs any introduction - it produces some of the most recognisable fitness trackers out there.

We really liked the Versa 3 option, which is well designed, integrates perfectly with the Fitbit app and has a number of nice little features like stress management scores and menstrual health tracking in addition to its core offering.

It produces good results from both swimming and normal exercise modes, and if you’re looking for a watch for everyday wear, the smart watch style notifications give you a good amount of information when you’re on the move.

KEY SPECS:

Supported application Fitness Tracker, Sleep Monitor, Pedometer, Heart Rate Monitor

Brand Amazfit

Operating system Android 5.0 or iOS 10.0 and above

Battery Lithium Polymer

Connectivity technology Bluetooth

Water Resistant

Screen size 1.3 Inches

This is a nice affordable option from Amazfit, which manages to combine a range of excellent sports tracking modes with a rugged, adventure-proof design.

We also like Amazfit Stratos 3, which does a good job of pool swim tracking, but this option is more durable, currently reduced on Amazon and offers open water swim tracking too, which is excellent for the more wild-swim orientated users.