A poorly made pair of googles can ruin a carefully crafted swim lesson

A poorly made pair of goggles can ruin a carefully crafted swim lesson.

Have you ever wondered what the actual difference is between ALL those different brands of goggles?

Which is the best brand for you and your family?

Are there different sizes?  Which type last the longest?
Why do they all look different?

At Watersafe Swim School, we have done the research for you.  We have tried and tested dozens of goggle brands from the very best that our U.S. Olympians use, all the way down to the type sold at the 99 Cents Only stores...

...and we have the info that you need.

All goggle are not created equal.  This doesn't just go for the inexpensive brands.  Some of the top goggle makers have made, from our experience, some REAL lemons!  We measure our goggles based on three criteria:

1)  How well do they fit?

2)  How long do they last (in good condition)?

3)  How much do they cost?

Here is what we found.  The best goggles for kids are not necessarily the best goggles for adults.  Kids have heads and faces with completely different proportions than adults and these proportions change on a regular basis.  Kids also treat their goggles differently than adult. For these reasons there are some key elements that we see as a requirement for kids goggles.  How do we know?  Our poolside goggles get used on hundreds of swimmers each week.

So here is the skinny on kids goggles:

*  They must have a solid eyepiece construction-  adjustable nose pieces pinch the nose and break easily.  Removable gaskets around the eyes, especially foam ones, pop off ALL the time.  Also, solid eye pieces protect the lenses so that they don't get scratched easily.

*  They must have double straps that are easily adjustable-  because kids heads are smaller, the goggle straps easily slip off.  This problem can be alleviated with split straps or double straps.  Easily adjustable straps take lesson force to adjust and, thus, last longer. 

*  Any pair of goggles you buy should already be anti-fog goggles. 

At Watersafe we use Finis kids goggles.  These are not a brand that you can find in stores.  They are specially made and sold to almost all of the private swim school in the United States.  You can see the picture below.  We have found that these goggles last the longest, rarely scratch, and fit ALL of our swimmers much better than any other brand.  There are many brands out there, but if you are going to buy goggles for your children, we strongly suggest that either purchase Finis kids goggles or a brand that makes goggles similar to those pictured below. 

Some additional notes:

We are more than happy to allow your swimmer to borrow our goggles when you come to lessons but we strongly suggests that you purchase a pair of goggles for your swimmer and keep them in their swim bag for lessons so that your child does not have to share goggles with other swimmers.

Also, the gaskets around the eyepiece of a pair of goggles form-fits to each individual face so the most leak-proof goggles are the ones that only one person uses.