How to choose swimming goggles
15. 4. 2024
Don't know how to choose swimming goggles? We are happy to advise you! How to correctly choose the shape, lenses of swimming goggles and how to care for swimming goggles.
Swimming goggles protect your eyes from unpleasant chlorine or salt when swimming in the sea. Quality goggles maintain good visibility above and below water, ideally regardless of the sun's rays.
The main parts of swimming goggles are the cheeks, lenses, buckles and strap. The cheekpiece is made of silicone, so it does not cause allergic reactions and easily adheres to the face. The cheek is shaped in such a way that it does not let water through even during more violent movements. This is an absolute necessity in competitive swimming. That's why the prices of better swimming goggles are higher than for recreational swimming goggles.
Lenses today are most often made of Plexisol - a light plastic that allows manufacturers to use a variety of color variants.
Plastic buckles loosen or tighten the silicone strap that holds the mask on the swimmer's head.
Types of swimming goggle lenses
When choosing lenses, you should first ask yourself the question in which environment you will use the glasses. He will use different glasses for swimming in a covered pool and completely different ones for swimming in open water on a sunny day.
Indoor swimming / outdoor swimming under cloudy skies
For indoor or outdoor swimming under cloudy skies, we recommend choosing either clear or slightly tinted lenses that let in natural light
- Clear glasses - let in natural light, ensure a clear view without distortion. Ideal for use in indoor pools, places with poor lighting, cloudy weather or evening swimming.
- Blue glasses - are suitable for indoor and outdoor use in low light, fog or haze. They increase contrast and reduce glare.
- Pink lenses - pink lenses eliminate the blue color and thus improve overall visibility underwater. The result is clearer and sharper vision. You can use these glasses both in indoor pools and for outdoor swimming.
- Green lenses - green relieves the eyes and improves contrast in glare to low light.
- Yellow lenses - swimming goggles with yellow or orange lenses suppress the blue color, increase color contrast and generally brighten the pool. Ideal for use in indoor pools or in cloudy weather.
- Iridescent mirror glasses - improve visibility in places with poor lighting. Ideal for outdoor swimming under cloudy skies or in poorly lit indoor pools.
Outdoor swimming under partly clear skies
Smoked or polarized glasses are best suited to these conditions, due to their ability to reduce light transmission.
- Smoke glasses - reduce light transmission, preserve color saturation and increase natural contrast. For outdoor swimming in sunny weather with clouds.
- Green polarized glasses - reduce light transmission and thus also glare, suppress blue light. You will especially appreciate these glasses for outdoor swimming in partly cloudy weather.
- Brown polarized glasses - reduce light transmission and glare, improve sharpness. These lenses are best suited for outdoor swimming in sunny weather of moderate intensity.
Outdoor swimming in sunny weather and very clear visibility
These lenses are often equipped with a titanium mirror, which reduces glare, increases color contrast and does not strain the eyes.
- Pink mirror glass - maximum protection from light. Increases color contrast and enhances contrast against blue water.
- Red mirror glass - offers protection against sunlight, filters infrared rays and thus improves color contrast.
- Blue mirror glass - protects the eyes from the sun, increases color contrast and emphasizes warm colors against blue.
- Orange mirror glass - maximum protection against light, increases color contrast, reduces glare.
- Gold mirror glass - provides protection from sunlight, eliminates reflections from the water surface and thus reduces glare.
- Silver mirror glass - maximum light filtration in strong sunlight. It increases color contrast and provides maximum protection against UV and infrared rays.
- Polarized glasses - this type of glasses reduces sunlight and prevents reflections from the water surface, which often cause glare. They ensure sharper vision and perception of objects.
As swimming goggles for the sea, we recommend goggles with smoked, mirrored or polarized lenses.
Anti-fog coating on swimming goggles
Plexisol visors are in the vast majority of cases treated with an anti-fog layer during production, which greatly facilitates orientation while swimming. However, this layer disappears over time, the reason being the oiliness of our skin, which damages this layer. However, you can easily restore the protective layer by spraying an anti-fog spray, which is normally available at any good swimming equipment retailer.
Don't forget to put your glasses in a case, this will protect them from damage and extend their life.
Swimming goggles for children
You can buy swimming goggles for children as young as three years old. The cheekpiece is, of course, adapted to this age group, and it is highly recommended to purchase a wider type of cheekpiece, which children can put on themselves. The so-called shell-type glasses are not very suitable for children, because the pupils are small and they have to be squeezed relatively hard when putting them on.
It is not a good idea to skimp on swimming goggles for children, because providing a comfortable environment during swimming is one of the basic prerequisites for them to stick with this sport.
