Kelly the Culinarian: How to Find the Perfect Swim Goggles

Sunday, March 4, 2012

How to Find the Perfect Swim Goggles

This is a tale of many goggles. I'm still figuring out swimming technique and methods, but I have learned a few things about gear. Goggle are essentially, especially if you need glasses or contacts like I do. In a perfect world, I wouldn't need either of these things to finish laps, but I'm still at the point where I need to count the minutes I have left to survive in these workouts.

First, I tried Swedish goggles, which are at the top of this picture. I picked these because of the price point and the fact that they are fully customizable ... in theory. In practice, even after watching this YouTube video, I still ended up with two pairs of goggles that leaked all over the place. Every attempted flip turn ended with a face full of chlorinated water. I couldn't complete more than a pool length or two without stopping to gasp, sputter, die adjust my goggles. These also didn't have any padded sealing things around the goggles, leaving me with raccoon eyes when I was done. Hot look.

Next, I annexed a pair of goggles Tim acquired. Long story short, they didn't help. They were too big for my face and weren't easily adjustable.

So I bit the bullet and bought another set of goggles, which are at the bottom of this photo. This time, I did research on Amazon and Pinterest before deciding to purchase a set of Speedo Vanquishers, which were made for women. I went with this color combo just because it was the cheapest available. For $13, I got a set of goggles that made all the difference in the world. While these still fog up, they don't leak, protecting my contact lenses and allowing me to complete a flip turn without the goggles flying off my face. It's not perfect, but it makes a world of difference having the right gear.

Here are my tips for finding the perfect pair:

  • Read the product descriptions closely. Are you looking for racing goggles, mask-style goggles or Swedish goggles?
  • Check out the reviews. A lot of people have spent serious time sharing their thoughts on these products.
  • Ask someone at the gym what they're using. Most people are more than happy to wax poetic about all their doodads and gadgets.
  • Search on Pinterest for triathlon or swimming gear. There are some great users creating detailed boards about what they use.

Next on my list of triathlon gear to figure out: bike bags. Any thoughts?

2 comments:

Erin said...

Hmmm, I bought my goggles at Marshalls. I think they're Speedo brand? Anyway, I have to cinch them so tight on my head they still leave raccoon eyes even with the padding. Is that just a side effect of swimming or are there really goggles out there that don't do that?

KellytheCulinarian said...

I think the Speedo ones still probably give me some circles around the eyes, but it's gone by the time I get to work.