During a wetsuit legal swim, I have thought of taking extra goggles during the swim leg. Where to people keep them…in their wetsuit or under their swimcap? Where in wetsuit?
During a wetsuit legal swim, I have thought of taking extra goggles during the swim leg. Where to people keep them…in their wetsuit or under their swimcap? Where in wetsuit?
Thats a great idea I would think. I will watch this thread. I also noted this comment on an active thread
I just put a spare set around my neck for race swims.
Why would you need an extra pair of goggles???Not exactly a High Failure piece of equipment.
for millions of years man dreamed of entering the water, but it was not possible until the invention of the swim race goggle. A Wright Brothers moment for sure.
Why would you need an extra pair of goggles???Not exactly a High Failure piece of equipment.
You are right its not a high failure rate but it does happen.
My husband was just about to do his swim start at the St. Anthony when the lens of his goggles broke and popped out… for the life of us we couldn’t get the bloody thing back in and boy did we try.
If it hadn’t been for a guy out there with a friend who was racing who said “hey I have an extra set here you can have” I don’t think my hubby would have won his division that day… so lesson learned.
Now we carry at least one pair of back ups for him and an odd ball pair “just in case” for someone else… nothing wrong with being prepared to pay it forward. It’s like carrying a little positive Tri Karma with you.
~LBB
Try getting goggles knocked off in the IMLP melee and you wear contact lenses.
Not too hard to tuck a pair in the front of your wetuit.
More importantly make sure the swim cap goes on over the goggles
Try getting goggles knocked off in the IMLP melee and you wear contact lenses.
Not too hard to tuck a pair in the front of your wetuit.
More importantly make sure the swim cap goes on over the goggles
Does that make it less likely the goggles will get knocked off? I have always worn my goggles over my swim cap
yes it makes it harder to have them kicked off your face. I seem to be a glutton for punishment as I always find a way to get myself kicked in the jibs. I’ve had my goggled knocked askew on my face but they never fell off my head because my strap was under my cap.
Try getting goggles knocked off in the IMLP melee and you wear contact lenses.
Not too hard to tuck a pair in the front of your wetuit.
More importantly make sure the swim cap goes on over the goggles
I took my goggles off on the return leg of Muncie - I couldn’t see anything with the glare off the water and decided to risk it without them. It improved my vision significantly, but cause some blurred vision through T1 and the first few miles of the bike.
Try getting goggles knocked off in the IMLP melee and you wear contact lenses.
Not too hard to tuck a pair in the front of your wetuit.
More importantly make sure the swim cap goes on over the goggles
I tuck the spare pair in the front of my wetsuit as well. I don’t want to have goggles around my neck in a mass start - that just seems like a recipe for disaster.
It also gets them stuck on your head if the nose piece breaks in half.
If there’s a chance of them getting kicked off, even in an IM swim start, you aren’t wearing them correctly.
Strange things DO happen…I think at Hy Vee last year Matty Reed came out of the water after having both his goggles AND cap knocked off (Matt’s on here I think I’d love to hear his take) but he still finished way up on the first guys out of the water IIRC.
Personally at races I put goggles on first then cap. Limits losing them but of course not getting dislodged from your face. Its cheap insurance.
cheers
S.
During a wetsuit legal swim, I have thought of taking extra goggles during the swim leg. Where to people keep them…in their wetsuit or under their swimcap? Where in wetsuit?
You should also bring extra of all the following…just in case:
- Extra chain for bike
- Extra pedals.
- Spare bolts
- Spare frame (might crack at any moment).
- spare shoes
- Spare socks
- spare sunglasses
Hey, you never know right?
The goggle-straps-under-cap works very well. I got absolutely pummeled by waves at an unusually big surf LA triathlon, where I got hit by at least 2 big ones straight head-on while recovering from a battery of smaller waves that literally rolled me onto the ocean floor (not too deep, fortunately). While I’ve lost 2 pairs of goggles in training from similar head-on wave collisions when the starps weren’t under, with the straps under the cap, they were all askew on my face, but not lost.
Not something I would worry about, unless it was an Ocean swim 2.4 miles. I “think” I could handle swimming without goggles in freshwater at any distance (and I am slow, so it takes me a long time). I do usually keep an extra set in my transition bag in case of emergency before the start (either my emergency or to share some Tri-Karma with someone that needs it)
As far as goggles under the swim cap, I don’t do it. I figure if I need to make an adjustment to the strap for some reason, I don’t want to have a cap in my way. If my goggles are getting knocked off, I don’t think a swim cap is going to keep it from happening (but others have said that it helps, so maybe they are onto something).
yes it makes it harder to have them kicked off your face. I seem to be a glutton for punishment as I always find a way to get myself kicked in the jibs. I’ve had my goggled knocked askew on my face but they never fell off my head because my strap was under my cap.
Thanks for the tip! I will try that on my OW swim tomorrow in addition to some time w/no goggles just in case they get knocked off or break
During a wetsuit legal swim, I have thought of taking extra goggles during the swim leg. Where to people keep them…in their wetsuit or under their swimcap? Where in wetsuit?
You should also bring extra of all the following…just in case:
- Extra chain for bike
- Extra pedals.
- Spare bolts
- Spare frame (might crack at any moment).
- spare shoes
- Spare socks
- spare sunglasses
Hey, you never know right?
You totally forgot an extra hat or visor. I mean, you know know when a massive headwind will take that thing right off the top of your head. I personally always run with an extra visor in the back of my tri top.
For non wetsuit swims I always jam an extra pair of goggles up the leg of my shorts. Can’t hurt. In a wetsuit I guess maybe around your neck or in your cap is the best so you can get to them quickly.
Initially I thought this sounded like a pretty stupid idea, but goggles can be finnicky. I always bring an extra pair to my races, sometimes two extra pairs (depending on how variable the conditions are). As for wearing/carrying an extra pair during the swim, here’s my take.
You should be able to swim in such a way that you do not get kicked in the face…use your arms to protect yourself from people to the side and in front, swim smart (don’t swim onto someone’s ass such that they’re kicking you in the face), and make sure the goggles actually work for you before race day. Also, keep your head down. The only time anyone should be able to kick you in the face is when you’re sighting, otherwise your head should be down in the neutral position. If you’re in an area crowded enough that you might stand a chance of getting kicked, you probably won’t need to sight all that often. Just let the people on either side of you lead you through a crowded part of the course. I swam the last 900m or more of the Clearwater course basically blind. My left eyepiece was fogged up and leaking continuously (not sure why–I’ve been wearing them for 8+ years now with no problems), and the right one was just plain foggy. The sun was in my eyes. Solution: swim just off the hip of the guy next to me. Worked like a charm, and I’ve done this many times since even though I haven’t had the goggle problems. Note: this works much better in the more competitive waves than this does in the MOP and BOP.