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While browsing today I almost pulled the trigger on a Garmin option. Then I remembered they're essentially wrist-mounted bricks at the moment.
They're back, and they were never really bricks. Anything recent can have the files taken off it via USB, which is what I do anyway to upload to Strava. I've used my Garmin (Forerunner 945) for the last 4 days with no problems, it just didn't sync to the phone or website, but I could still use it perfectly fine for recording activities and then uploading those to Strava.
For swimming you either need a strap, but you'll need a swim specific one as a normal HR strap (like the waterproof HRM-Tri) just gets pulled down each time you push off from the wall.
Or you need an optical HR that is rated for swimming (the Garmin wrist based ones on the back of the watch aren't). If you're wearing something on the top (i.e. a skin or a wetsuit) then an HRM-Tri should work fine without any slipping.
I've never had a problem with the Garmin HRM-Swim strap slipping down but it's still not 100% comfy.
None of the straps can talk to the watch during the swim because the signal can't get through water to the watch. The Garmin HRM-Tri and HRM-Swim are designed to store the HR data and then have it downloaded from the watch as you end the swim.
I don't think there are any 3rd party straps that can record data AND integrate with Garmin so you can download the stuff to the watch at the end of the activity.
To avoid the strap I moved to using a Polar OH1+ mounted on the goggle strap and reading HR from my temple. That's much easier although the downsides are:-
a) it sometimes gets flipped over and you don't notice = no HR
b) it doesn't integrate directly with Garmin, so you have to end up downloading the FIT file from the Garmin and then HR file from the Polar App (after syncing both) and then finding a way to combine them (which isn't simple).You can use the OH1+ when running too although, again, it's not as good as a proper HR strap.
[EDIT] If you just want HR info from a swim, and no info such as lengths/distance/pace/etc then a Polar OH1+ on the goggle strap would be the simplest. You'd only have to get the data from the Polar app/website after syncing and then you could upload that anywhere.
If you want swim info (like this: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4067649025
) then you'll need a better watch and probably the HRM-Swim strap. I've got a Garmin 935 (no strap) you could have for £250...
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Greenbank
Garmin make a specific strap for swimming, which is wider than normal ones and is designed to stay in place whilst you are in the water- intimating that non-swimming-specific straps will end up as a loose waistband. It’s also designed so that it transmits your HR at the end of your session as Bluetooth, ANT+ and I suspect many other RF transmissions don’t make it through water. Wrist based HR within the watch that is gathering the data strikes me as a better approach, but I have to say I personally would go for the super nerdy option: HUD goggles that monitor your HR.
https://www.formswim.com/pages/polar