Rescue your leaky goggles with one easy trick.
For swimmers, goggles are the most important piece of swim equipment that you can have. Without them, you’re flying blind. Experienced swimmers can oftentimes swim races without goggles because their strokes are down to a precise count, enabling them to know when they are getting close to the wall and being able to feel if they go off course. But new swimmers haven’t learned this ability so a leaky pair of goggles or one that falls off spell complete disaster.
If you haven’t already, check out the top goggles I recommend from my swim experience for young swimmers in my blog post: the only goggles you should consider for new competitive swimmers.
Leaky goggles are the result of the rubber not forming a good seal around the eyes. If you know you have a good pair, the position of the goggle straps is the deal breaker between a good seal and chlorine burn in your eyes. In order to get a good seal, the straps of your goggles must be placed at the rounded part of the head where the back transitions to the top.
The number one reason goggles leak is because swimmers place them too low (not just because they aren’t tight enough!). When the goggle straps are placed directly behind the ears, it places the majority of the suction pressure on the top of the sinuses where there is already good suction. It removes suction from the eyebrow where there is very little padding other than the bone under the eyebrow. This is where the leak originates from. By placing the goggle straps high up on the head, it allows the top of the goggle to make good contact between the eye and eyebrow.
No matter how hard you try, diving into the water always will misalign your goggles. One bonus tip that I always tell my swimmers is to wear a cap over top of your goggle straps. This will keep them in place as you hit the water, keeping your goggles leak free for the entire race!