GREAT POOL GOGGLES

Nothing puts the misery into a 6am winter pool sesh like leaky, foggedup goggles that leave marks on your face all day. Avoid them like this:

LENS

Easily the most important thing when buying new goggles. Decide whether you like them to sit in or around your eye socket, then choose a tint that works for you. Blue or clear work well in the pool, but leave the darker tints and polarised lenses for open water.

BUCKLE

Ajusting your goggles should be easy and faff-free. Often you’ll have a simple buckle adjuster as shown here, although many will have some kind of button mechanism on each side. Make sure the strap will stay secure when adjusted, you need them to stay put!

STRAP

Snapping straps are a common cause of goggle failure, so check yours have a decent one – and don’t do them up too tight. A split or double strap (as on these) is more secure and also works better if you have long hair worn in a knot under your swim cap.

GASKETS

Without a good seal, your gogs will fill up with water the first time you push off or tumble-turn. A good seal means when you first try the goggles, they should stay on your face without even using the straps. They should also be comfortable and soft.

BRIDGE

The bit that sits between your eyes. Some goggles will have a fixed bridge, while others, like the MP Xceed, will come with a few sizes that can be swapped. The benefit of this is that you can get a really good fit and therefore more comfort and a better seal.