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Thanks - year, I realized there are no wrist based methods when I had a good look yesterday. Could have made an annoying mistake picking up something a bit more pricey assuming "swim mode" + "HR monitor" = what I wanted. I'll see how often I'm able to get to the pool now that they're back open (first swim tomorrow!). If I'm able to be as regular as I was, I'll pick up the goggles... Pure gadgetry, but you only yolo once. Thanks for the advice!
(also, re: bricks - I was assuming that if I 'd bought a new garmin device while they were down it would have been useless until I could have synced with with garmin connect. I've been using my Edge while they're down without any real issues).
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The Polar OH1+ aren't googles, it's an optical sensor that clips onto your existing goggles (or worn on a band around wrist or upper arm if you go out running).
The proper gadget goggles are these ones: https://www.formswim.com/pages/polar . Someone in the Swimming thread had those...
(Good point about new Garmin bricks, didn't think about that...)
Greenbank
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...