Here's a silly question-- what color are your goggles? I've had a blue tinted pair for a long time, this morning the strap broke and rather than take the time to fix it I grabbed my back up pair. Same brand and type only the tint is 'smoke'. It was weird but I found them totally disorienting for the first couple of hundred yards. They were fine after that but it made me wonder anyone else has a color preference or loyalty.
Former Member
Definately clear. I swim indoors and tinted goggles always seemed weird to me indoors.
As for the warm weather - stay away. The longer it is cold, the longer the ski season!:D
It took me a while to figure out, but I seem to do better with light colored goggles. It was a challenge to swim outdoors when you need tinted goggles and most seem to be dark (Tyr has some great close to clear ones though). Dark goggles not only disorient me, but they also give me headaches. And after a 2h practice I don't usually feel very good if I have to wear dark goggles. My sister however is the opposite, she cannot wear clear/light color and only does well with dark tinted. I guess I just need the light :D
I find that wearing a dark goggle swimming in an indoor pool does not work well for me. I wear a clear lens indoors and a darker tint if swimming outdoors.
A very good swim coach once told me that if you wear a dark tinted google indoors, that it adversely affects your performance. It seems that your pupils dilate, to compensate for the low light level. This makes your body prepare for rest and sleep. So your energy levels drop. This would lead to a poorer workout.
Since i heard that i have kept to clearer goggles and it does seem to help.
I have recently been using Tyr Velocity clears and loved them. I tried to go back to my previous preference which were Nikes (blue/purple) and a Speedo (goggle clear). I noticed the disorientation too but I attribute it not to the visual color, but the clarity of the plastic lens. I
t seems as if that since I last purchased a pair of Nike goggles, the quality of the plastic has gone down and I was getting a lot of distortion. And I could see the same type of distortion in my speedo's. These weren't the bargain basement priced goggles either!!!! These were their "top of the line". I don't know if the colorant effects the clarity in the plastic extrudate or not for the NIke's there was not a clear lens choice for that model at the store. The Speedo goggles however were clear and had distortion too!
I just went back to the Tyr's and have not had to change 'focus' (pun intentional).:cool:
I have goggles with the amber (yellow) lenses. Just love them and everything seems clearer than with just the plain clear lenses.
Although I nearly drown the first time wearing them cause I started laughing. Seems my first thought with them on in the pool, because they give the water a greenish cast, was that I was swimming in Tidy Bowl that someone forgot to flush:eek:
Mirrored swedes-got them for open water and can't go back. It's the only piece of open water swimming I can carry with me thru the cold winter in New England. Added bonus: at 5:30 am in bubble-enclosed (dim) pool I can pretend I'm still sleeping.
Goggles are really the most important workout equipment you buy. Besides fit requirements, clear vision is important.
I divide my goggles in three categories:
Workout: I workout in an old indoor pool. Every turn is a race turn to me, so seeing through antifog Amber lenses is the only way to go. Your vision is enhanced and you see the walls better.
I usually require younger swimmers I coach to get the amber colored ones.
Race indoors: Again amber or clear. I used to have a unique goggle cap, but since I had laser surgery I don't need it. Again a good antifog is important, if the coating is worn off it goes in the trash.
Race outdoors: Again a good antifog is important, but I have UV rated darker smoke for the breaststroke, and mirrored finish for backstroke.
All in all I have at least 5 pairs in each of my swim bags. Plus when I coach kids I keep a pair handy for when someone forgets their goggles. Kids cannot swim right without goggles. I often wonder how I every swam back in the old pre-goggle days:cool:
