How to Buy the Best Swimming Goggles

Lap swimming provides a metric ton of benefits for the exercise-enthusiast. You get a zero-gravity environment that is easy on the joints. You can mix up upper body and lower body training with ease. And with a dizzying array of workouts and sets to try, you will never get bored.

But before you go and conquer the pool, you need to start by being properly equipped to dominate the water. Besides a swim suit, which I heard is key, the next piece of swimming equipment you need when hitting lap swim is a pair of swimming goggles.

Here’s what you need to know.

There are two critical reasons that you need to wear goggles when swimming:

1.. Safety. Sounds like a pretty good reason already, doesn’t it? The human eye is not built to see well underwater. Our vision is blurred and fragmented when trying to see in the pool. Goggles give us the vision necessary to be able to see the lane markings in the pool, the upcoming wall (so you don’t swim head-first into it and concuss yourself), and of course, other swimmers.

2.. Red-eyes. Ever notice that there are times where you go swimming, whether for laps or just for a dip at a local pool, where your eyes are blotchy and red afterwards? This irritation is real, and while it’s not long lasting, it’s plenty disgusting. The reason this happens isn’t necessarily because of chlorine, but because of chloramines. And what are those, you may be asking? It’s the result of chlorine reacting with human waste, whether that means sweat, or um, other stuff. Yeah. Gross, right?

Okay, so now that we have covered two exceptionally good reasons swimmers should wear goggles in the pool, let’s discuss some of the things you should look for when picking out the best pair of swimming goggles:  

1.. Go for silicone straps. The goggles of my youth—typically Speedos with foam gaskets—were awesome for their time. But hold these goggles up to what is available on the market now and they will blush with embarrassment. The foam would quickly disintegrate in the chemical environment of the pool. The nose piece was delicate. And most infuriatingly, the straps would fray and snap after about a month of use (usually mid-practice). A lot of goggles these days, including the Speedo Vanquishers 2.0, come with silicone straps, which are light years ahead in terms of durability compared to the rubber straps of the past.

2.. Try them on first. Seems like an obvious point, but you’d be astonished how often swimmers pick out a pair of goggles without trying them on first. Swim goggles are not all made equal. Swedes, or Swedish goggles, come unassembled and have a hard plastic gasket (it’s also a favorite of competitive swimmers). The MP Michael Phelps Xceed goggles, on the other hand, come assembled, and have a rubberized gasket that also allows for wide peripheral views. Ultimately, fit and function should combine for your ideal goggle. Comfort without being able to see sideways or above you when you are swimming makes things riskier than it should be, especially if you are in the fast lane in a darker-than-average pool. That being said, don’t just buy a pair of goggles because one of your favorite swim starts wears them, make sure you get down to your local swim shop and actually try them on. You are going to be spending a metric heap of time wearing them, after all. Happy swimming!