Been performing some personal tests in the pool over the last few weeks as I search to find the best goggle for me again. Having liked the large style face goggles maybe my sensitivity is high but there’s a lot of drag that comes off that when you swim. Anyone else noticed ? That’s a lot of turbulence of the front end of your stroke. Instead I normally used Speedo Futura as a happy compromise but I think they’ve altered either the material of the moulding process parameters as the newers one don’t fit my face as well.
After a few tests I’ve opted to trial the low profile Speedo Speedsockets for the first half of the season. They’re not as comfortable as say a Seal mask and the clarity isn’t as good as some others but over an Oly distance I need the time saving. When comfort is more of a priority (when i do IM for my first finish next year for example) I’ll switch to a seal.
Have you tried the Seal Mask XPs? They’re a bit smaller, but still have the visibility advantage of their larger brethren. For me its always been about sighting and visibility, rather than comfort. I’m not an A+ swimmer, though, and have to sight rather more often than the fast folks to keep myself in a straight line. I draft on the swim, but once you get back to the MOP where I am…you just never know if the person is actually going to swim straight or not…so for me, its all about being able to pick up the bouys with just a quick glance during a stroke instead of having to actually pick my head up for a stroke or two like I nearly always had to do with regular goggles.
I don’t think you will find any goggles that have less drag. They look over-simplified, but trust me once you adjust them appropriately they fit better than any goggles and will never leak.
Every fast swimmer i have ever met wears these. they all swim 6hrs a day in season, so there must be something right about them. I cannot speak to the sighting though.
Funny you mention that, I’ve tried several different masks and now I’m back to the old Speedos. Fit fine, don’t leak, and in most of the lakes, I can’t really see anything in the water anyway!
I have swam in swedish goggles for the past 15ish years or so. The few times that i’ve had to borrow a pair of non swedes from somebody, and I feel like I want to rip my eyes out.
I second the motion for Swedes. They are cheap, comfortable, and come in a variety of colors! Just don’t make the mistake I made and wear orange goggles for race day…makes the orange buoys kind of hard to see! DOH
The Swedish goggles are great, and I wear them for competitive swimming, but I wouldn’t wear them in a tri. The lack of padding around the eye means that if you get kicked - it can cause a bad injury. For triathlon racing I use the Speedo Speed Rocket Goggles - a more comfortable version, but very streamlined. They come in a mirror version if you like that sort of thing for outdoor swimming
A trick I use the solve for the sharp edge on the swedes is to lightly rub the edge against a rough surface such as the grout or wall in the pool. Or you can just use fine sand-paper or find a nail-file.
I think he still swims pretty well.
