We report on systematic measurements of die swell in semi-dilute hydrolyzed polyacrylamide solutions. The solutions are extruded in a buoyancy bath to reduce the influence of the interfacial and gravitational forces. The experimental results are analyzed in the frame of the Tanner＇s model which considers that the elastic recovery is the leading contribution to swelling; from the jet diameter at maximum swelling, we determine the shear compliance of the solutions. The results are in good agreement with the scaling predictions reported in the literature. The shear compliance exhibits a Rouse-like behaviour even though the scaling of the viscosity is that of semi-dilute entangled solutions.