Agreement Between a Wristwatch and a Free Optical Sensor with a Chest Strap in Measuring HR Variations During Front Crawl Swimming

Wearables with optical sensors for heart rate (HR) measurement are widely available in the market. However, their accuracy in water is still underexplored. The aim of the present study was to test the agreement of two different devices for HR monitoring with a chest strap while swimming at different intensities. Twenty male and ten female subjects (mean 19.6 ± 0.7 years old, 173.3 ± 5.4 cm, and 67.1 ± 6.6 kg) performed an intermittent progressive protocol of 3 × 30 s tethered front crawl swimming followed by a 1 min rest period. A chest strap, a wristwatch, and a multi-site optical sensor placed at the temple were used simultaneously. A strong association, an excellent intra-class correlation, and a low mean bias were denoted (R2 = 0.85, ICC = 0.94, b = −1) between HRchest vs. HRtemple. Both indicators increased throughout the test, denoting an increase in accuracy from light to vigorous exercise intensity. HRchest and HRwatch showed a moderate association for the whole test (R2 = 0.23) but a weak association, a poor consistency, and a high mean bias stepwise (0.01 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.06, 0.03 ≤ ICC ≤ 0.42, −48.1 ≤ b≤ −16.1). During swimming, the HR values from the temple showed a better agreement with the chest strap than those from the wristwatch. The temple reading accuracy might be enhanced by using the device during the dryland warm-up routine.