My early morning trips to the gym usually involve me leaving some essential item at home, be it my sock or my goggles. We learn from our mistakes, right? Recently, I had to borrow my trainer's Swedish goggles, and they rocked.
Designed for speed, these goggles left no suction cup circles around my eyes when I finished my session. I have been looking for goggles that are kind to the delicate skin around my eyes and that also don't leak. Swedish goggles have no rubber or foam gasket to seal around the eyes and this gives them a low-drag profile, which is why racers like them. Less drag translates into faster times. The goggles are cheap, too — a pair generally costs around $4. The catch is you have to (or get to) assemble them. Think of it as a crafty fitness project, and this way you get to perfect the fit. Swedish goggles come with two eye pieces, plus string and a small blue tube to create a nose piece. A long piece of latex serves as the headband for a "secure racing fit." I was able to assemble mine in less than five minutes.
You can spend about $10 more for a pair with a metalized finish that reduces glare for open-water swims, and some have anti-fog coating. You can find them at Swimoutlet.com or check your local swim store.
Donna Karan
"The goggles are cheap, too — a pair generally costs around $4. The catch is you have to (or get to) assemble them."
1Cheap Swedish things that you have to assemble yourself? Hm...Ikea? (I thought myself very funny for thinking of this)
These are the only goggles I would wear when I would swim competitively - they are great. You would think that with no padding they would hurt, but they don't! They do leave marks though, but most goggles do. They have tinted ones for swimming outside too.
2katherine
3I have been a swimmer for almost 15 years, and I still am looking for the "perfect" pair of goggles. I had tried these at one point, but wasn't very impressed. Maybe it was because I borrowed my brother's and he has a much different nose bridge....
4These are great goggles, I wore them exclusively when I was competitive, however, they did tire out the skin around my eyes, so my lids drooped a bit, but that went away. Also, strange fact-when I lived in sweden I couldn't find them anywhere! Maybe they aren't really swedish? (unlike Ikea, which is in fact, REALLY swedish)
5LOL, katherine, I was thinking the same thing! IKEA goggles
If I was a swimmer, I'd
totally get a pair of these...they sound pretty good to me.
6katherinev — that is funny! These were much easier to assemble than my last IKEA purchase.
7I LOVE my sweedish goggles ! They are comfy + don't leak
8oh, also -- you can use the extra elastic for the nose piece.
9I can vouch for these too. I started wearing them when I was a lifeguard in college.
10i was a swimmer all through high school...these hurt my eyes! like my eye sockets haha because they were real tight
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