ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SWIMMING

Goggle Advice

Goggles Advice

Choosing a pair of goggles, is increadably important not only to aid your best proformance for galas but training too. It is not just a case selecting the right size and a nice colour, as goggle technology constantly improving, the choices available can be daunting. I bought a pair of Speedo Sockets without trying them on first and I absolutely hated them and found them very uncomfortable (my eye lashes rubbed the inside of the lens), after only wearing them once my £17.00 pair of goggles are now dumped at the bottom of my swimming bag. So if you make the wrong choice, this can make a financial impact on your wallet /purse and not forgetting the disapointment and back to the drawing board again, hoping that you choose better next time, so here is some advice:

The Fit

Fitting is the most important thing to get sorted and it all comes down to finding the correct size, shape and level of suction. The goggles need to fit securely around the eye – tight enough so that the goggles don’t slip off but not so tight to hurt your eyes. The goggle should sit snugly and comfortable around the nose bridge and create a good seal. Similarly, the seal around the corner of your eyes needs to sit comfortably too, as you don’t want to have red rings around your eyes.

You should not pull the strap too tight, which will create an uncomfortable pressure. Logically speaking you would think that by tighting the goggle strap this would provid a better fit on your goggles but the straps sole purpose is just to hold the goggles into position, not to provide the seal. One problem that can happen when the strap is too tight is the eye cups pull away from each other and allows water to get in around the nose.

The Function

Decide the size of frame and type of profile you want. This is a list of the 6 different types of goggle:

Racing: Designed to fit into the eye socket – Racing goggles are low profile, hydrodynamic – and fast. Will not slip off during flip turns.

Fitness:

Swim Masks: An oversized swimming goggle or undersized scuba mask? Neither, they are designed to give the allround feeling of vision you would expect in a dive mask, but with the comfort and seal of a swimming goggle. Very popular amongst Triathletes swimming in open water, and for Swimmers who don’t want to have ‘goggle marks’ left around their eyes after their swim.

Optical: Allow you to have a dioptre strength in your goggles to match your eyesight. Very popular, and perfect for Swimmers who regularly wear glasses and feel ‘vulnerable’ when they swim.

One Piece Frame: One piece soft frame design – where there is no need to adjust these goggles as they will adjust themselves to fit most face types. Hugely popoular style of goggles – perfect for the Performance & Fitness swimmer.

Adjustable: More traditional goggle style that has either an adjustable nose bridge or multiple bridge sizes. Ideal for the Fitness swimmer or those who prefer to adjust their own goggles.

The Lens / colour of lens

After that it comes down to the lenses. (The purpose, function, fasion and what you prefer and works best for you)

Blue – Reduces glare from white light (such as light reflected from water). Just enough tint to relax the eyes in artifical pool light. Ideal to take on holiday for an outside swimming pool.

Smoke – The most popular tint. An all purpose lens colour that reduces the light transmission to the eye, lowering the overall brightness without excessive colour distortion. Ideal to take on holiday for an outside swimming pool.

Clear – Offers protection and clear vision without changing the appearance of colours. A good all round option.

Yellow/Orange – Improves contrast, sharpness and depth perception and reduce glare, especially on overcast days. They also reduce the glare in high-level light to provide clarity and vision.

Mirror – Helps to reduce brightness and glare, mirror coating is applied to a normal tinted lens. Ideal for out door pools in sunny conditions, perfect for racing goggles.

Once you have found your perfect pair of swimmming goggles, try not to touch the lenses – even the tiniest of scratches will affect your vision. Wash your goggles after use in clean, cold water. Let them air dry, then store them in a goggle pouch before stashing them in your kit bag.

UV Protection

Ultraviolet rays / UV rays, are the most harmful of the suns rays. All our goggles are moulded from special grades of plastic which contain compounds that absorb ultraviolet light. This means UV filtering is a standard feature, no matter what colour you choose.

Light Transmission

Light transmission is a measure of how much of the light which hits a lens is allowed to pass through it and enter the eye. The darker the lens the lower the level of light transmission. This is why a smoke lens colour, with its low light transmission, is ideal for reducing brightness on sunny days.