Tri-ing in the Holy Land

The ramblings of a struggling triathlete in Israel

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Location: Israel

I'm the mother of 3, a teacher and a couch potato turned triathlete.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The perfect goggles?

I must have a strangely shaped face, because I've unsuccessfully tried more different brands and models of goggles than anyone I know! What follows is a list of all the goggles I've tried and what I liked and disliked about them. Maybe this will help someone else with goggle woes.

For a while, I swam with the AquaSphere Seal Mask. I liked these goggles for a while, but for some reason, the lenses started popping out on me once in a while and they also started leaking a lot sooner than I would have liked, as they're not cheap and not easy to find around here. I didn't particularly like the big mask and when these finally gave out, I decided to try something smaller.

Since the Seal Mask had been ok, I tried its smaller version, the Seal XP. These were good at first, but they started leaking a lot sooner than the Seal Mask had, and like the Seal Mask, they're not cheap and not easy to find here. Oh, and they're still a lot bigger than "conventional" goggles.

For my next pair of goggles, I decided to try something that would be easier and cheaper to replace. I went with the Arena Vulcan. I was pretty happy with these goggles for a while, apart from the fact that they left me with ugly goggle marks around my eyes. I figured that was the price I had to pay for leak-proof goggles. Eventually, they did start to leak, of course, so I bought a second pair. I wasn't as happy with those -- they started leaking a lot faster than the first pair. It was once again time to search for different goggles.

This time, I went with TYR Technoflex 2.0. These goggles almost never leaked, but the gaskets dug into the skin around my temples and they left even worse goggle marks than the Arena goggles. However, I could even do flip turns in these without them moving, so I swam in them for a while. Then one day without any warning, they started leaking and nothing I did would stop the water from coming in. I borrowed a pair of goggles for one workout and then went out and replaced these with a second pair, despite the fact that I hadn't liked the way they'd died in a single day. I lost my second pair at the Tel Aviv Triathlon and then decided to look for something else.

The next goggles were Speedo Futura Ice. These goggles came highly recommended by several teammates. When I tried them on in the store, they seemed fine -- they had good suction and were comfortable. In the pool, though, they were a disaster. No matter what I did to them, they leaked. And because I kept making the straps tighter to try to stop the leaking, they left really bad goggle marks. Eventually, I gave them to a teammate because I couldn't swim with them. They worked great for him, so it was just my weird face that they didn't fit properly.

The goggles I am currently swimming with are TYR Technoflex Vision. So far, so good. These are probably the most comfortable goggles I've ever worn. No matter how long I leave them on my face, I don't get anything more than very faint red marks under my eyes -- barely noticable and painless. And they have yet to leak on me. I am very very pleased with these and I think I may have found the perfect goggles for me, but it's still too early to say for sure.

So what goggles do the rest of you swim with?

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I also had an old Speedo Futura for a while, till they stopped working, meaning water came in.
I also heard very good recommendations on the Speedo Futura Ice and bought one and it was a disaster! several workouts were wasted on adjusting the goggles.
Finally, I bought the Swedish Goggles for 41 NIS, just perfect! no leaks! can do flip turns, head jumps! They are a bit painful, but I prefer that over the catastrophic futura goggles.

21/7/07 12:10  
Blogger bari said...

Quite a few people have recommended Swedish goggles to me, but they look so uncomfortable that I'm afraid to try them! They would probably give me permanent goggle marks!

21/7/07 16:17  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't care about permanent goggle marks, it would just make me look more like a triathlete! :-)

22/7/07 09:49  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Trust me, as a 47 year old woman whose face has been severely affected by wearing goggles for 20 plus years, you do NOT want permanent goggle marks. Goggles should come with warning that long term use can ruin the skin under your eyes and on your upper cheeks. I am living proof.

3/2/09 21:09  
Anonymous Sleeping Bag said...

oh I could really do with some new goggles because the ones I'm using now leak water terribly - I may as well not bother! I many give the Swedish Goggles a go, although I am a bit worried about them being painful haha!

2/7/10 12:31  

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