The Finest Swimming Goggles of 2024

How We Tested Swim Goggles

Pam LeBlanc, a lifelong swimmer who hits the pool four to five days a week with the U.S. Masters Swimming program at Western Hills Athletic Club in Austin, Texas, compiled this list of recommendations.

Although she has spent hours logging miles in a chlorinated lap pool, she loves wild swimming in rivers, oceans, and ponds. She and a partner finished the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim as a two-person relay in 2012. She also completed the Trans Tahoe Relay and other long-distance swim races, including the Highland Lakes Challenge outside of Austin Texas. She has competed in sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. In more than 40 years of swimming with organized groups, she’s worked her way through hundreds of pairs of swim goggles.

Her main quest has always been to find goggles that she doesn’t notice. Most importantly, goggles should provide clear vision and never leak or fog. Comfort is important. But it’s also nice to wear swim goggles that don’t leave noticeable red rings, known among swimmers as raccoon or panda eyes, hours after the last drop of water has dried.

Testing swim goggles is tricky. No two people have the exact same facial structure, so what works on one swimmer might not work on the next. Besides testing goggles during her morning swim practice, she checked with other swimmers on her team—from former Olympians to recreational lap loggers—to see what goggles they preferred.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Best Swimming Goggles

Most goggle options are one-size-fits-most. And, it can take some trial and error before you find the best pair for your needs. Even if the lenses are great, the strap configuration is smart, and the goggles look good, they still might not fit your facial structure.

But goggles have come a long way. Back in the 14^th century, a few daring swimmers used “goggles” crafted from polished semi-translucent tortoise shells to protect their eyes. By the early 1900s, others were using motorcycle goggles, sometimes sealed with a bit of soft paraffin wax. But it wasn’t until the 1972 Olympics when Scottish swimmer David Wilkie donned a pair that swim goggles really went mainstream.

Today’s goggles are much higher tech than those early models. They have flexible eye gaskets (goggles with foam pads around the eye cups are generally gone) and lenses designed to provide crystal-clear vision. They also have special coatings to prevent fogging, and adjustable straps to ensure a snug fit. They keep water out of the eyes, help athletes keep track of other swimmers sharing a lane, block sun glare, and improve under-the-surface vision.

Eye Gaskets

The most critical feature of any pair of swim goggles is the eye gasket. Most these days are made of soft, flexible rubber, which helps them mold to an individual face.

It may take some time to find the goggles and eye gaskets that conform best to your unique face shape.

If you can’t find off-the-rack goggles that work for you, consider spending the money to make custom-fit Magic 5 goggles based on scans you take with your smartphone. Snake & Pig Basilisks are especially comfortable, and their double-walled gasket design helps reduce those suction marks around the eyes known as “raccoon eyes.” Others, like the Tyr Socket Rockets, don’t have any rubber at all – they’re just hard plastic cups with smoothed edges that rest directly against your face.

Lenses

There are three main goggle lens styles: clear, mirrored, and polarized. As Speedo explains, clear lenses are optimal for swimming indoors while mirrored lenses are designed to reflect light and are optimal for bright outdoor conditions. Polarized lenses are arguably the best for outdoor swimming though, as they decrease glare but aren’t dim on overcast days.

Our longtime favorite, the Speedo Vanquisher 2.0 can come with clear lenses or lenses with a mirrored finish. This means you can keep one pair for swimming indoors and another for bright sunny days outside.

Other colored lenses are available, and they aren’t just for show. An orange lens, for example, can offer more contrast. Smoke lenses, or darkened clear lenses (think sunglasses) are ideal for bright indoor pools but not dimly lit areas.

Anti-Fog

Foggy goggles can slow down any swimmer. If you can’t see where you’re going, you can’t get in a good workout. Some goggles come with a sheer anti-fog coating designed to keep the goggles from fogging up while you’re swimming.

The coating on some goggles wears off after a few uses, but goggles like the Arena Cobra Mirror Ultra Swipe are designed to re-activate that technology with the swipe of a finger. You can even brew your own anti-fog elixir with a little baby shampoo and water. The Snake & Pig Basilisk Goggles come with an applicator bottle and instructions.. Or do it the old-fashioned way: rub a little spit on your goggle lenses before you hop in the water.

UV Protection

All the goggles we tested come with UV protection lenses. Avoid cheaper models that don’t have such protection built in — especially if you’re swimming outdoors, under sunny skies.

Lens Size and Shape

Lens shape largely depends on what you plan to do with your goggles. Competitive swimmers tend to prefer smaller, low-profile goggles like the Speedo Vanquisher or Magic5 Custom Fit that fit closely to their faces. Open-water swimmers and triathletes tend to prefer larger, more mask-like lenses for a wider field of vision when they’re popping their heads out of the water to spot their location. Recreational swimmers looking for a larger lens will love the Aquasphere Kayenne Swim Goggles. Larger lenses are more likely to slide off your face during a dive, too. But, if you’re not using them to race, that shouldn’t matter.

Whatever kind of swimming you’re planning to do, the best lens size for you is the size that feels comfortable and doesn’t leak when you’re doing a flip-turn.

Head Strap

Generally, your focus should be on the comfort of the goggles themselves. But head straps come in different widths and designs, too, with different mechanisms for tightening or loosening.

If you have long hair that you keep in a bun or ponytail under a swim cap, a strap that has a slit in the middle back and is adjusted on the sides is ideal. It can go over and under the bun to stay in place. This matters much less for those with shorter hair — it’s all about comfort.

Some, like the Arena Cobra Ultra Swipe, have a U-shaped bracket at the back of the headband that you adjust by pulling the head strap through. Others, like the TYR Special Ops 3.0, have buttons or tabs on the sides that you press to adjust the goggles. Aegend goggles have a large hard plastic press button device you press to adjust the goggles.

Others, like the no-frills TYR Socket Rockets aren’t adjustable. You tie them to the length you want and go.

Nose Piece

That little piece of plastic that crosses the bridge of your nose can determine whether a pair of goggles fits an individual face. Some goggles, including the Arena Cobra Ultra Mirror Swipe and the Speedo Vanquisher 2.0, come with multiple removable nose pieces so you can snap in the one that best fits your face size.

Others like the TYR Nest Pro have a fixed nose piece that cannot be changed. If the fixed nose piece works for your face shape, that’s fine. But if it doesn’t, you can’t adjust it to make it work.

Cost and Quality

Compared to other recreational eyewear such as ski goggles and fishing sunglasses, swimming goggles are relatively affordable. On the low end, our best budget pick is the Aegend Swim Goggles, which cost $20. On the high end, the Magic 5 and the Arena Cobra Ultra Mirror Swipe cost more. But, they might be the solution for people who can’t find goggles that don’t leak or are frustrated by goggles that fog, respectively.

In general, expect to spend between $20 and $40 for a quality pair of swim goggles with crystal clear lenses and solid durability. Due to their stretchy elastic strap and frequent moisture exposure, swim goggles tend to wear out fairly quickly.

Those who hit the pool multiple times per week should expect to work through three or more pairs of goggles per year.

Color

All that said, some folks like to stand out in the swimming pool. That’s why some makers offer dozens of color schemes. You can go with basic black eye sockets and head straps, or you can opt for hot pink, aqua, or rainbow swirls.

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