Swedes definitely say 'real' swimmer. Either old school, been using them for years, or have spent a fortune trying every other goggle out there, and have come back to the $4 answer.

Seems like I am independent, selective and exact ... hmmm, yes!

First comment:

Bingo, haha. Wear what you want, spend but you want, but always know that Swedes are the answer ;)

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

Goggles have been solved for over 30 years

That swimmers apparently can be just as big of a group of status-conscious douchebags as cyclists.

At least its just swimmers and cyclists, and not the rest of the human race.

How the hell is spending like $30 bucks twice a year on good goggles "a fortune"

Why is spending $60/year on goggles even necessary?

Dunno. I bought a pair of nerd goggles (Aquasphere Eagles, with Rx inserts) 2 years ago. Still going strong.

But, I just switched to contacts specifically so I can get some cooler looking ones.

Cuz you can get better ones for $8 per year.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Swedes, Speed Socket 2.0, Cobra Ultra pick your lower profile poison.

I was given a pair of Aquasphere to try by the Rep... way too big. I could feel the drag on them on every turn.

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___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Cobra Ultra is singly the worst fitting thing I have ever put on my face. They don't even touch the bottom portion of my eye. Luckily they fit one of my kids.

Swedes are torture. My eyeballs are not Swede eyeballs, even when I was a "real swimmer"

I seemingly have Tyr eyes. They always fit, even if the Nests are so damn blurry underwater they are like wearing nothing at all

Ooooh. So that's why I'm so slow!

I’ve been using Aquasphere Kaiman’s for close to a decade. I spend all of $12 a year on them. Comfortable and they don’t leak. Do they cause more drag? Probably, but so does having a large package. So some things you just gotta learn to leave with

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Matt

Drag from goggles? Seriously....

Yeah, seriously. It's not really the speed reduction, but the increased propensity for them to come off on a hard pushoff or a dive. Plus it feels annoying.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

If I could figure out how to get swedes to work for me I would totally use them. A- because they look cooler than the mask I wear (adult onset swimmer here) and B- because I'm cheap. Maybe I'm doing it wrong but they just gave me a headache and still leaked.

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"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

You had them too tight.

The key to swedes is the nose piece. It takes a bit of practice to get it right, but essentially what you do to get them set up perfectly is to put the eyecups in your eye sockets. just the cups, don't assemble them yet. They should just stick there. If you can't get them to seal like that, then they may never work for you. Look in the mirror and gauge how far apart the sockets are. Next, put the string in and tie it loosely, at roughly the separation you observed. put them back on, and adjust the string so it is taut when the eyecups are seated in your eye socket. If in doubt, leave it a little bit long, what you do is twist the string to fine-tune the fit. Then put the strap on, adjust so it is just tight enough to hold the goggles on your head, and swim. it should feel like you aren't wearing anything at all.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I long for that feeling...

Me too, but I'm at work right now and I'd probably get fired.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Nah - just snip off a piece of the head strap (at a pretty acute angle so you can get it through the holes) and use rubber for the nose piece. I have a, shall we say, sharp nose, and the strings always cut me.

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

There's that method too (ran them that way for quite a while, but I much prefer the string.)

That's the nice thing about swedes. They are essentially custom fitted to you.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Probably?

I buy the Sporti ones for ~3 a pair. I just replace them when they become the slightest bit cloudy. Normally less than once a month and that keeps me under $30 for the year.

I still wish they made me a good swimmer. Sometimes at the races people think I'm good just cuz I'm wearing them.

I literally never thought that your goggles made any difference. I own two pairs of what I thought were "regular" goggles. One clear for indoors, one tinted for outdoors. I don't think I can even tell you what brand they are. They just fit my face and keep water out of my eyes.

I guess now I have to go look in my swim gear bag and make sure my goggles are hipster-swimmer approved

The smaller the goggle, the faster the swimmer.
(BTW-this same rule applies to triathlon: the smaller the transition towel/mat, the faster the triathlete. If you park next to someone who lays out a full beach towel and a Home Depot bucket next to their bike in transition, they aren't likely planning to blaze through the course.)

So if you want to sandbag.... Wear a full scuba mask, bring a faded broken Homer bucket, and put a full sized beach towel under your whole bike and area, ride in a t shirt.

But, you gotta win it all.

/pinkish

Love it!

Bingo. My set-up is super simple. One strap instead of the double-strap, and I've always been partial to using a piece of the strap as the nosepiece vs the string. Doesn't come off unless I get rolled in a good-sized wave, and certainly never on a start or turn. Been wearing the same lenses for 10+ years now.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

I got my first pair of goggles when I was about 6 years old, in 1978. I was part of a small beginner-style swim team at our pool in Mexico City. My mom bought the pair for the equivalent of maybe $2. I didn't know what to expect, other than maybe my eyes wouldn't burn during practice. In truth, it was an absolute revelation to wear those goggles. Not only did my eyes no longer burn, but I could see underwater, which I totally didn't expect.

This was at a time when goggles were still relatively new to the scene, and there were only a few styles available. The pair I was given had a single strap and neoprene for gaskets, but those worked effectively.

Over the years after that, after we moved to the US, I got more involved in swimming. I always had goggles around, mostly small neoprene gasket models with elastic straps. The total paid for a decade-worth of goggles (1978-88) must have been less than $60.

I was in more successful swim clubs in the late 80's, a time that coincided with the overnight boom in the popularity of Swedish goggles. If you look at videos of the 1984 Olympics you'll see that almost everyone wore Hind Compy, while a look at the 1988 Games shows that at least 50% of the swimmers wore Swedish. By 1988, probably every single guy on my club team wore a pair of Swedish goggles.

TBH, I didn't wear those much in HS or college. I stuck to mostly the Speedo Sprint and the Hind Compy. I had one pair of Swedish goggles fall apart on me right before the mile final at NCAA's my sophomore year in 1992. I wrapped up my college career wearing Hind Compy. I still have 2 pairs of those, but those aren't being made anymore, so I am holding to those.

I've mostly worn Hind Compy and Swedish since about 2006, with variations of the Swedish (Montebara, Tyr Socket Rockets, arena Swedix) being all that I wear now.

I found a pair of Orca goggles on the shore at 70.3 Boulder this year, when I was a spectator. I wore those several times for OW swims, and those were fine, though I never would have bought a pair on my own.

The point of all of this is to say that I've mostly worn inexpensive, small-lens goggles over the last 40 years. It's hard for me to understand how a simple, inexpensive technology, proven over 40 years, can still be up for improvement. I get that bike, shoe, and to some extent apparel technology can increase performance in tri, but goggles are goggles.

I suppose that my goggles say that I am a cheapskate and a grumpy old man.

How did your Swedes "fall apart"??? Did your string or rubber band nose strap break, or your head strap??? The goggles themselves seem pretty much indestructible, unless you put then in an oven and melt them, then they're going to last forever. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

^ This ^

Now this is a very important subject.. Goggles..

You cannot talk about Goggles without a matching swim CAP. YES, I know, most of you hate swim caps for training but its all about the look.


Looking cool is priority #1.

Sure, you can go with classic Swedish which says, i paid $5 and 30 min to put together, but what type of cap are you wearing and HOW are you wearing that cap? Is the cap covering your ears and forehead? If so, it says noob. Do you wear a cap and goggles but do you wear your goggles outside of your cap? if so, it says noob. Most of the time. Notice in picture cap is folded at the ear with goggles under cap. Proper swim cap and goggles etiquette should be taken serious.

Close, but Phelps has the biggest dome in history and no cap will fit him... folded is good for practice, but over the ear for racing. But you do you - no Velomanti (Aquamanti??) rules at the pool. Most of what you see is borne from practicality and speed.

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

I have the goggles with the snake eyes. What does that say?

These ones?


Stay away!

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

Yeah, but anyone who pulls their cap OVER their goggles deserves a little bit of gentle ribbing. Kierra Smith, I'm looking at you!!

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Maybe its lower drag.


As long as its not all the way down over the lenses.

The string nose piece untied. That was the ONLY time that ever happened.

I've tried the elastic through the nose piece, but also threaded through the tube. I still prefer the string technique. All my current pairs have the string. On the very rare occasions when I need to replace the nose piece, I just use some dental floss, looped through several times. I have a pair of jewel-mirror lens goggles that I've had for 3 years tied with floss.

Had my first pair of swede type goggles last winter and went the elastic to connect route and really like it. But I kept forgetting to cut it short so every swim I was pissed I forgot to cut it. Then next swim the same thing happened! But I have since cut it. I will say that I only get the fit right about 76% of the time so sometimes they kill my eye sockets.

But all of this spending money in this thread seems a bit excessive. I have some Tyr goggles that I have had for years that I still use too. I might buy race goggles every year but rarely replace training ones. Baby shampoo before every swim to keep them clean and fog free and I have been good to go for years!

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Twitter - Instagram

I started swimming as a sophomore in HS in 1969. We did not use goggles. When I was at home afterward sometimes my eyes would burn so bad that I couldn't open them enough to get any Visine in there (when I could, Visine gave instant relief). Eventually in HS we started using goggles for practice, but not at meets!


In an unrelated note, I walked to school barefooted in the snow and it was uphill both going and coming home.

I don't know if there is any piece of personal athletic gear that has impacted a sport as much as swimming was impacted by goggles. At the same time, no other piece of personal athletic gear has been able to stay as cheap and unimproved upon as goggles. There is no other technology that has been so quickly "solved" as goggles, and so little change has been needed.

Think of the contrasts, in technology, durability, price among other gear since the intro of swim goggles in the 1970s: running shoes, basketball shoes, golf clubs, sports bras, bikes (frames, drive trains, aero, materials, etc), helmets, bike shoes, pedals, tennis rackets, apparel (technical fibers), swim suits, skis, ski boots, socks...

OTOH, goggles: there's no such thing as permanent anti-fog, and the natural solution is abundant and free. There's been a bit of an upgrade with silicone straps, in terms of being hypo-allergenic and durable. There are some cool lens colors. There are new materials for the gaskets. But, goggles still remain cheap, and the technology is mostly unchanged since the 1970's and 80's. So, what's the need to spend when there were just as many different types of people with different face shapes wearing goggles that worked 30 years ago?

There's no way you'd show up at a triathlon on a 10 gear steel bike with strap-in pedals, wearing lace-up leather bike shoes. No way is anyone skiing without shaped skis or composite boots. You'll get blown off the court if you play tennis with a steel or wooden tennis racket. You'll get all sorts of blisters if you wear cotton socks and Chuck Taylor All-Stars to the Y gym to play hoops, and your nipples will chafe right off if you wear a cotton singlet...

Show up to the swim start in blue $4 Swedish goggles and you'll probably have a ton of people trying to position themselves to draft you. Unchanged technology from the 70's is still applicable today.

There seems to be an inverse relationship here, at least among some long-term swimmers. Tens of thousands of kilometers swum over the decades, tens of dollars spent on goggles over the decades.

I pay zero attention to googles. I do notice bikes and running shoes though. I use big ass bug-eyed Roka X1 googles because it's all about comfort for me. Man, do I hate tight uncomfortable goggles when I'm swimming 1+ miles! So I guess my goggles say a lot about me: that I'm not a very serious swimmer!

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Hmmm, dental floss, I've never thought of that. I've been wearing same pair of Swedes for about 12 yrs and when the original string broke after 10 yrs or so, i just replaced with similar string. I'm on my 4th bungee strap but those have been my only "maintenance" requirement, about $3.00 every three years or $1/yr. While I love the low cost, the really best thing about Swedes IMO is that they are so incredibly low tech; i mean, you can't get much lower tech than holding your goggles together with string or a rubber band. It's just awesome to use Swedes and the (free) pace clock vs $30 goggles and a $200 Garmin. :)

But back to the original story: Did you swim your final in borrowed goggles or did you go sans goggles??? How was your time compared to what you had hoped to do??? Sometimes I think racing sans goggles might be best so abso no distractions as you can't see much at all. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

BaldingEagle - "Mask-like goggles: you are an adult-onset swimmer, most likely a triathlete. You think it’s worth it to spend 4-5 times the amount of money that a “real” swimmer would pay for goggles that she/he wears 20 hours per week. You wear those goggles 2-3 times per week for a total of < 4000y.
Swedish goggles: you're an iconoclast and an individualist. Those look painful to swimming outsiders, and that's part of the allure. But are solely customized to you. You tied your goggles just right, meaning no one else can share. You also have no idea why spending more than $8 (goggles plus bungee cord) is even necessary. Good enough for Sjostrom, Hosszu, Thorpe, Biondi, and Hackett, means good enough for you."

https://swimswam.com/...-you/#comment-653190

Yeah I noticed the same thing wearing my first ''bigger'' goggles ever: Aquasphere Kayenne clear lenses (and no, I'm not secure and I consider myself THE most procrastinating person ever :-) ). Every hard push from the wall the goggles are letting water in.
Disclaimer: I am a beginner at distance swimming and in re-learning mode right now, I quit short distance in 1980', around grade 12th I think...
Before that, I have always used the basic Speedo ones, but they were far from fitting fine on my face, so I attached them extremely tight. Couldn't keep them for long. I also have intense myopia and astigmatism, so I can't not wear goggles. My vison, thus the goggles I use are very important to me. I wish to find a pair that never fogs, that is comfortable, inside who water never enters, and is also not too huge.
Never ever swam in open water yet, next summer....

Louis :-)

The goggles literally split apart at the nose piece as we were being whistled up to the blocks. I had worn those to warm up in 5 minutes earlier with no issues. I drew the starter’s attention, showed him my goggles, and I walked over to my team area to find another pair. My coaches were so F-ing pissed. Once the race actually started, it was a giant cock-up. I swam horribly and barely got 16th place, good enough for 1 point. My concentration was definitely shot, but other circumstances also contributed. We’d had a teammate die the previous summer, and I was still a roiling ball of emotions at the meet, 7 months later (this was March, 1992).

Since that day, I’ve taken a second pair to the blocks for EVERY SINGLE RACE in a pool, college and masters. NCAA 1993 and 1994. FINA World Masters in 2006. US Masters nationals 2015 in San Antonio. Even last weekend at a local 1500 scm meet, I tossed a spare pair under the block next to the pool JIC. It’s my ritual. Even at OWS and some tri races, I’ll have the spare tucked into the waistband until the race starts and either toss the spares at the shore or hand off to a Sherpa.

I have nothing useful to add to this thread during my evolution from triathlete to swimmer, other than NEVER EVER BE SEEN WITH the google below on your head and a garmin on your wrist.

Even when i was triathlete, I would not get caught dead with all that "I am such a triathlete" gear

If Speedo ever stops making the Vanquishers I really don't know what I'd do. I've been wearing them for like 15 years now.

Wow, sorry for the bad race. I guess you're totally covered now by taking two pair every race now though. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I still wear Hind goggles but Hind is now GH Sports and they have changed the goggle and they really aren’t made by them anymore. Not as good as the original Hind. Hind was the inventor of the waterpolo caps.

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

Wore those for a while till i got the speed sockets (because michael phelps wore them). Tried a couple other pairs since and nothing quite works the same.

Water Gear made the Hind Compy. However, the company president has health issues and Water Gear is going out of business. It’s the end of the line for the Hind Compy, which went through several iterations, made by Hind, Speedo, and finally WG.

Buy yours now or those are gone forever.

I used the water gear compys before swedes, and currently in the swedix. In my opinion, the forward vision of the swedix is a significant improvement over the original swedes. The padded rubber gasket isn't that big of a deal to me, I actually prefer no gasket because they will mold after a period of time. However, forward vision is a must, and I have noticed it in the pool and open water events (now I didn't do macinaw island or chesapeake, etc, nor swim with ex-olympians), but the forward vision was noticeable for me in both the pool and open water (helps with not so pronounced of a "crocodile-peek" to sight, murky or not murky). The perfect goggle for me would be a swedix style with no gasket, but replace with a nootca lens (I think nootca is out of business though).

I like wearing the goggles with the string/tube, but one single strap around the head, and I cut about 1 inch below the side holes. I've found this method to be the most comfortable and stable for me. I think the most comfortable would be a single strap around the head, with a strap for the nose piece, but I like the string. For racing however, I'll go with the bungee and jack it down tight.

I'm going to see if I still have all those pairs of compys (some are lightly used, some are new). If I do, hell, I'll just give em to you if you want. Its the ones with the light-green band correct?

Man, I do love all the love for Hind Compy's (etc) on this forum. I think my friend Carly Piper was probably the last Olympic Gold medalist wearing them in Athens 2004, haha

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

Awesome picture of Compy goggles! I recall that Chris Jacobs (1988), Summer Sanders (1992), Nicole Haislet (92), Whitney Hedgepeth (96), and Tripp Schwenk (96) wore those in Olympic finals.

Well, you guys convinced me. I always thought they were a little weird, but I figured what the heck and got a pair of swedes to try tomorrow.

I brought back the Vanquishers to life this evening...After 30 minutes, I had to take them off, my eyeballs were about to pop out !!
What a comforting feeling it was to change back to the Kayennes...
Is there such a thing in swimming for eye sockets, as in cycling for butts ( like we finally get used to it after thousands of hours) ? Cause now I don't think I'm fit for ''inner eye'' goggles...

Louis :-)

You're never gonna go back.

I never felt that vanquishers are an inner eye kind of goggle, but in general when i switched to speed sockets there was definitely an adjustment period. I prefer that style of goggle now

I have horrific vision and wear contacts while swimming, so losing my goggles in open water isn't really an option. How well do they seal and stay on in that situation? Really my only concern with them at this point

Personally I don't feel they're any worse than any other goggle. Getting hit in the face is a crapshoot. If your goggles come off it has more to do with the strike than the goggle. I wear them for everything. I once tried a non swede for a tri and hated it. The clarity was awesome, but I bought a few new pairs of swedes and the clarity was impeccable with the new ones. They do get scratched up easily but I think that's more because we tend to beat the crap out of them. After all they cost $3.50.

Good luck.. I'm partial to them, but you've got to go with what works for you. If they're comfy, give them a fair chance in OWS or tri. How many times have you actually taken a shot to the eye socket?

Not super concerned about actually getting hit in the face. Benefits of usually being at the pointy end of the swim :D My biggest concern is that I heard they're more likely to come off when diving and such. Guess I'll find out