EXPERT ADVICE

Speedo’s Chris Johnson talks us through the R+D behind their Fastskin Elite goggle… In competitive pool swimming, drag reduction is probably the most important route to a faster swim. Goggle lenses with greater peripheral vision allow a swimmer to view their competitors in other lanes with greater clarity and accuracy. That means swimmers need to make less unnecessary head movements, which could increase their drag in the water. This wider field of view also provides a swimmer with more info from which to execute their race plan. Instead of a conventional flat elliptical lens with clear forward vision and double curvature surrounding surfaces, which can distort underwater vision, we created the Fastskin Elite goggles with a flat front lens. It has a vertical bend transition to a single curvature lens shape on the side. It’s this shape on the side of the lens that reduces the underwater distortion and makes for added peripheral vision. This lens shape also happens to provide another benefit of being lower in profile to the face; therefore, the goggle has a smaller cross-sectional area to the oncoming water flow. There’s less form drag for increased speed and a lower impact force on the top of the goggles when diving, which means a reduced risk of the goggles becoming dislodged and leaking.