So we are clear...

The watch sees the strap and displays heart rate while in swim mode. You have that metric displayed on screen.

You are stopping the workout in the water or on the deck, and sitting on the deck, completely out of the water, when you save the activity.

The watch is saying no HR data was saved and it is not there in Connect later.

The watch should pause for several seconds during the saving routing to retrieve the data, then save everything and tell you it was successful. I don't have that strap (I have a Garmin Swim HR Strap) or watch (I have the 735) but it should be the same for all devices from that aspect.

If you are doing all that and no data is showing later in the workout it is time to call Garmin. One of the devices is not talking to the other one.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Thanks, that's exactly what's happening: The watch shows my HR data during a swim, if my watch and strap are out of the water. I'm stopping and saving the workout out of the water, while still wearing the strap. Watch says no HR data to download after connecting to the strap.

Sounds like it's time to reach out to Garmin.

Are you sure the strap is connected during the swim or is it from the optical sensor?
Have you added the strap to GC so it syncs?
Or sync the strap before you completely end the activity?

I'm pretty sure you need to START the workout with the HR strap and the watch out of the water and "talking". As I understand, the watch sends the START signal to the HR strap which only after that will record the HR data. If they are underwater..then the strap may not receive the START command from the watch...and, there's no "retry later" from the watch.

That's how I've always done it with my 920xt and HRM-tri, anyway.

Thanks for the feedback. The strap is definitely talking to the watch during the workout because it shows my last interval HR. And I know the strap is communicating with the watch before I start my workout because I've been checking the watch screen.

However, I don't think I've been starting my swim workouts with the strap out of the water. My watch is out of the water because I try to avoid pressing the buttons, but I bet the strap is underwater when I start. I'm going to give that try. Thanks for the idea, Tom (and I hope your recovery is going well. I'm the fellow TX SM racer, if you recall).

Recovery is essentially complete. I'm a normal human with new and improved cariac plumbing. Athletic performance is nearly identical to what it was last year at this time.

I do recall that you're also a racer. I'm sitting that out until the virus situation is more favorable, too. <sigh>

I'm curious how you got this issue resolved?

I'm having the same issue with my new HRM-Pro during my swim sessions, the HRM-Pro works fine on my bike rides. The HRM-Pro even shows up in Garmin Connect as a device attached to the Swim actvity, but it wouldn't automatically or manually download the heart data. I get the error on my Fenix 5x "No HR data to download", just like your Garmin 935.

My HRM-Tri has worked fine for over a year on all of my swims, so I'm pretty sure it's not an operator error.

Not true for the 735 and the Swim HR. The strap has to wake up out of the water and connect to the watch, but after that you can start the workout with your chest (and strap) underwater and everything will work.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

My issue was resolved by a software update to my HRM-Pro, it appears version 7.0 resolved it.

My heart rate data worked just fine for biking and running, there was just an issue with retrieving stored heart rate data. The update automatically appeared this morning, I installed it, and my watch was able to retrieve the heart rate data from my swim today. This issue seems very specific to the HRM-Pro and retrieving stored data.

Update from OP: I updated the firmware on the HRM Pro, and my swim data syncs now. Start with the basics I guess.

Hello.

It's been a couple of days now I've been dealing with the same issue. 735xt user here, no problem with the HRM Pro while running and cycling. It is just after open water swims, it does not forward any heart rates to my watch. Used to work fine until 2-3 days ago and I have no idea what happened. Firmware version 7.1, battery level good. What is your current firmware version? I have been through all the thread and I saw somebody mentioned that an update solved the issue, however I see I have the latest firmware installed. It just can't forward heart rates to my watch every time I get out of the water and press save, says 'no HR found'.

Is the firmware on your watch also up to date?

You could try forgetting the HRM from your watch and reconnecting it. But to be clear, you're saying the HRM used to sync after open water swims but now all of sudden it doesn't? If so, that sounds more like a warranty issue.

I have used Garmin chat in the past on product issues and, to Garmin's credit, they have been helpful and very easy to deal with when I've needed products replaced that failed.

Exactly! It used to sync perfectly well until 2 days ago. Latest firmware installed on watch too. It looks as if for some reason it can't forward the heart rates to the watch :(

I have emailed Garmin support, will be waiting for their answer. Thanks for the reply!

hi everyone -
i'm just bumping this thread as i've run into the same problem myself. a couple of times now i've gone for swims and had the "no data to download" problem. presumably saving and syncing HR data during swims is one of the main selling points of this strap, so if it can't do that . . . it's a problem!

i see that garmin has posted a beta version of a software update for the hrm pro, but i can't get it to install via my fenix 5.

i've also seen the suggestion to 'reset' the strap by removing the battery. i'm reluctant to do this because of the (many) horror stories i've heard of garmin straps failing after battery replacements.

has anyone else found a fix?

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

https://forums.garmin.com/...a-7-40-now-available

This is the thread I found. I haven’t installed it yet, but at least you can try it.

It’s been so long I was dealing with that problem, that I ended up buying another chest band, just for swimming! I even changed watch. The battery removing trick will fix the problem, but that will be only for a while until it appears again.

yeah, i've tried this! but after two tries, i just don't see an option on my watch to "software update 7.4" anywhere. really frustrating. . .

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

ok, i THINK i'm making headway.

i figured out how better to download the patch - turns out that you need to unzip the folder, then take the specific file out of that folder and put just that file onto the watch rather than the whole folder. i also popped the battery out for a reset.

when i got the battery back in the strap and turned the watch back on, i was almost immediately prompted by my fenix to install the new software.

another possible workaround: some people have said that their fenix/forerunner never allowed them to install the updates, but their edge did - so if you also have a garmin bike computer, so you try putting the 7.4 patch onto that, and then update the strap accordingly.

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Will do soon, thanks for the update. I hope it works and nobody will have to deal with the same problem again.

never mind -

it worked ok for a couple of runs earlier in the week and then today, went to the lake and it won't pair at all. seems dead.
i've had it - i'm going to return the damned thing to garmin.

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/