2019-06-01_220_Triathlon

GEAR FOCUS

June 2019 / / 69

A

skanytriathletewhattheleastinexpensive

pieceoftheirracedaykitis andchancesare

(elasticlacesaside!)they’llpointattheir

goggles.Althoughtheymaynotbea major

investment,goggletechnologyforopen-water

swimminghasmovedonquicklyinrecentyearsand

pickingtherightpaircanmakeyourtriathlonswim

morecomfortableandleadtomarginalgains,too.

Open-watergogglesdifferfrompoolgogglesin

twokeyways.Theyareusuallybiggertoallowfora

widerrangeofvisibilityandwhereaspoolgoggles

onlyneedtoreducetheharshglareoffluorescent

poollights,open-watergogglesneedtocomeina

wide range of tints to allow for different weather and

waterconditions.Forexample,youwouldn’tchoosethe

samegogglesfora murkylakeona greydayinBritainas

youwouldforthedazzlinglow light of a sunrise swim in

thebluewatersof Kona.

FITISKING

Aswithanyotherpieceoftriathlonkit,though,thefirst

thingtoconsideris fit.Afterall,getthiswrongandyour

goggleswillleakandimpedevisibility– costingyoutime

aswellasbeinganannoyanceyoudon’tneedonrace

day.Manytriathletesfavoura larger,mask-stylegoggle

forracingasit feelsmoreprotective.However,there’sa

downsidetoo– thebiggeryourgoggles,themore

vulnerable they are to being knocked in the melée of

Theymightbeoneoftheleast-expensivebuys,but

getthewronggogglesandit couldderailyour

race. Here's everything you need to know...

WORDSHELENWEBSTERMATTBAIRD

IMAGESTH ES ECR E TSTU D I ON E T

O P E N - W A T E R

GOGGLES