Never been kicked in the face. As longas you don't keep on whacking the guys feet you'll be fine. I've swam OWS with swedish, OK, but better options out there. I'm racing in Arena Cobra Ultra. Love em.

I swear by Swedes in the pool but the Arena Cobra Ultras have won me over for open-water. Love them.

As for kicks in the face - it's unpleasant no matter the goggles, but I suspect the low profile of Swedes actually allowed me to avoid more whacks than a fatter, softer goggle.

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ZONE3 - We Last Longer

why??

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
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“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I gotta ask, why do you want Swedes? I love them myself, but it’s a little bit like if you need to ask on a forum, then they probably aren’t for you.

However, they’re cheaper than dirt, so just get a pair and try them out. You might like them. You might hate them.

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

Have you ever worn swedes before? It's a personal feel thing but I find them to be horribly uncomfortable. I used to use Tyr Socket Rocket 2.0s (which are swede type goggles but with a rubberized gasket where it seals with your face) when I was swimming competitively but have moved to using Speedo Speed Socket 2.0s now. I find that I get a better seal more quickly, the seal holds with jostling and it is so much more comfortable.

To answer your question, I imagine you would get a pretty good black eye if you got kicked in the eye while wearing swedes. Certainly not something I would volunteer to test out.

As already said swedish googles are really cheap so there is nothing wrong about buying some and trying them out. As far as the kick in the face is concerned: I have never been kicked in the face with any type of googles and I really cannot imagine a case in which that might happen. However, I can assure you that with swedish googles you will have much much more issues than with a modern type.

On top of that I do not get why people use swedish googles except for "lifestyle reasons". I used to swim with swedish googles for a while and for me the relatively bad comfort was not the big deal, but the fact that I could see much less than before really annoyed me. Nevertheless: Try it out and tell us whether you liked it or not ;-)

I've been wearing sweeds for every swim since 2007.

Pool, open water, triathlon open water...everything.

From the world FINA (International Swim Federation), Thomas Lurz, Alex Meyer, and Ashley Twichell wore Swedish goggles in open water racing. Three of the best ever. Consider that this is highly-competitive and there’s lots at stake in each race, and that they wore those in those ultra-competitive scrums. On the international stage, OWS are 5, 10, or 25km long, and the team (pursuit) relay is 7.5km. So they’ve worn those not only in races 5+ hours long, but also presumably in training.

Go for it. If you don’t like those, you’ve only wasted $4.

+1

I've never found a pair of goggles with a designed socket foam, silicone, or otherwise that's as comfortable as swedes. Visibility is just fine, but I have a couple pair that are only for races because they get scratched up easily and I want clarity for races.

Haven't been kicked by got clocked by a hand. Adjusted and kept going. I don't think getting hit or kicked feels good no matter that you wear.

I raced in Swedish goggles for 25+ years until I got hit one time in Hawaii and literally had blood running down my face. Still train in them but now race in TYR Tracers.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

You're only going to get kicked in the eye if you're being a dick and smashing someones toes.

היי מיתר,
התחרת פעם עם משקפת שוודית? אני מפחד להתחרות איתה כי הזינוק בים וכל הצפיפות תגרום לבעיטה לבוא מדי פעם.
בקשר לבריכה - אמרו פה שהשוודיות נהרסות מהר יחסית למשקפת רגילה. יצא לך להשתמש בהן להרבה זמן ויכול להעיד על אורך החיים?
בקשר למשקפת של ארנה - יש גם לה אורך חיים טוב? קניתי את הפאסטסקין 3 של ספידו והתחיל להיות לה כתמים שאי אפשר להוריד אחרי חצי שנה...
תודה

No I'm sorry I totally disagree with you there pal.

Yeah, I raced in Swedes. Israman 2014, 2015, bunch of shorter races too that I can remember. Swedes do scratch up but for the price, I'm not bothered. Roka's now-discontinued Swedes were better than most in terms of durability and optical quality.

The Arena and Tyr Tracers last a long time (for me) since I only race with them (plus occasional OW training).

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ZONE3 - We Last Longer

I’d imagine getting kicked in the face hurts no matter what. I know triathlon starts are usually crazier, but between the tris and ows I’ve never been face kicked. Swedes are the end-all-be-all! Have had mine since 2006. Obviously I’ve had to replace the strap, but for 3.75 USD, can’t beat them.

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

also rule 5

That's pretty much all I swim in. I've never been kicked in the face in a race but got tagged in practice by an errant breast stroke kick. There was a little blood around my eye but it wasn't anything that needed medical attention. Just wiped my eye and kept swimming. If you're worried about it you could go with some lower profile padded goggles. I've worn the Speedo Vanquisher a few times and liked them.

If you get hit in the eye while wearing swedes in OWS you will have a black eye. I have taken 2-3 knocks to my swedes while in triathlons/ows's.
The next day I always wonder why I have a black eye until I remember that I took a shot.

I've use the socket rockets, Hind compy's when they were around, speedo somethings and now use some orca that are clear w/metallitized lenses. No matter what you wear if you take a good shot to the eye you'll probably end up with a shiner. The gasket goggles will reduce the severity and may prevent a black eye if it's not a severe shot. May prevent not necessarily won't prevent.

There are so many goggles like swedes with gaskets it's not worth racing in swedes anymore. Training in them though? Most definitely.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
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They are all I wear for training and racing. Thought that they might be a problem for racing but I am in te 50-54 age group and I have found that as I get older the knowledge that you can't win a triathlon in the first 50m of the swim and therefore there is no need to thrash and strike those swimming around seems to have spread throughout my old dude category so it has never been a problem with respect to getting hit in the eye. I have been racing in them for about 5 years now. I like the convenience of having a super dark set, clear set and in between tossed in my bag so $10 worth of goggles covers all possible conditions.

similar here, I usually train in swedes or TYR socket rockets, but I race with Speedo speed sockets. Those things stick to my eye socket like nothing else, I have yet to even get a leak when racing, let alone lose a goggle on a flubbed start or something. But they aren't as comfy as the swedes, which feel like you aren't wearing anything.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

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