Water in your swimming goggles is irritating, especially when you have to keep stopping to empty them. The first reaction is often to tighten the strap. However, that is usually not the best solution.
Swimming goggles keep water out because the seal around your eyes fits properly. The strap mainly helps to keep them in position while you swim. If the shape of the goggles does not suit your face, tightening the strap will not always solve the problem.
Are your swimming goggles leaking? Start with the fit. Then check the strap, the position of the goggles and small issues such as hair caught under the seal. This will usually help you identify the cause more quickly.
Why do swimming goggles leak?
Swimming goggles can lose their seal in several places. Sometimes the issue is the adjustment, but it may also be that the shape simply does not fit your face properly.
The latter is important to recognise. Swimming goggles can be perfectly sound technically and still keep leaking when you wear them.
The shape does not fit your face properly
The edge of the goggles should fit evenly all around your eyes. If there is a gap somewhere, for example around your nose or at the side of your eye socket, water can enter there.
That is why size alone does not tell you everything. The shape of the lenses, the seal and the distance between the lenses also play a role.
A practical check is to place the goggles calmly on your face before swimming. With many models featuring a soft seal, you can briefly press the lenses against your eyes without using the strap. If you feel a light, even seal, that is a good sign.
If one side clearly sits less securely, it is best to look at the fit first rather than continuing to tighten the strap.
The strap is not adjusted correctly
The strap should prevent your swimming goggles from shifting. That is essentially all it needs to do.
If it is too loose, the goggles may move while you swim. This can briefly break the seal and allow water to enter.
Too tight is not ideal either. It mainly creates more pressure around your eyes, while a poor fit is not automatically solved. With some goggles, excessive tension can even deform the soft seal.
The best adjustment is therefore tight enough to keep the goggles stable, but not so tight that you have to pull them hard against your face.
The goggles are slightly out of position
Sometimes the problem is simpler. One lens may sit slightly higher, the nose bridge may not be centred properly or the goggles may have shifted slightly when you put them on.
If your goggles are leaking, take them off completely and put them on again. Place the lenses calmly around your eyes and then pull the strap over your head. Next, check that both sides are sitting more or less evenly.
Hair can interrupt the seal
The edge of the swimming goggles should sit directly against your skin. A strand of hair between your skin and the seal can create a small gap.
Remove loose hair before putting on your goggles. If you wear a swim cap, also check that its edge is not caught under the seal of the swimming goggles.
What can you do if your swimming goggles keep leaking?
Do not adjust everything at once. Otherwise, you still will not know what caused the problem.
Instead, work through a few simple checks.
1. Put the goggles on again
Start here, even if the goggles appear to be sitting correctly at first glance.
Take them off, check that the seal is clean and unobstructed, and place them around your eyes again. Make sure there is no hair underneath and that both lenses are straight.
Then test them again.
Has the leak disappeared? In that case, the goggles were probably simply not in the right position.
2. Adjust the strap slightly
If the goggles keep shifting while you swim, tighten the strap slightly.
Make small adjustments. A strap should not be so tight that you immediately feel a lot of pressure around your eyes.
Do the goggles only remain watertight when you pull them very tightly? This is more likely to indicate a fit that does not suit your face properly.
That is an important distinction. The strap is intended to keep a good fit stable, not to correct a poor fit.
3. Check where the water is entering
While swimming, pay attention to where the leak starts.
Does water always enter on the same side? Check the fit there in particular. Look around the nose, along the outside of the eye and at the bottom of the seal, for example.
If your swimming goggles have an adjustable nose bridge, the distance between the lenses can also affect how well both sides fit.
Not all swimming goggles have an adjustable nose bridge. With a model featuring a fixed nose bridge, you cannot change the shape yourself.
4. Check whether the goggles shift while swimming
Goggles may fit well when you put them on and still start leaking later.
Pay attention to what happens after pushing off from the wall, while turning or when you turn your head. If the goggles move at these moments, the seal may be temporarily interrupted.
A small adjustment to the strap may then be enough.
If they continue to move even though the adjustment feels right, another model may be a more logical solution.
Fit is more important than a tight strap
If you check just one thing when your swimming goggles are leaking, make it the fit.
Well-fitting goggles seal around your eyes without requiring much force from the strap. You therefore do not need to wear them as tightly as possible to keep water out.
This is also useful to keep in mind when choosing new swimming goggles. First check how the goggles sit around your eyes and nose. Only then adjust the strap.
What should you look for in the fit?
In particular, check whether the edge around your eyes is in contact with your skin everywhere.
Light, even pressure makes more sense than a lot of pressure in one specific area. Also check how the goggles sit around your nose. If the lenses are too far apart or too close together because of the nose bridge, the fit on the inner sides of your eyes may be less secure.
If in doubt, try a different shape rather than wearing the same model increasingly tightly.
A more expensive model will not automatically solve a fit problem either. The shape must primarily suit your face.
Comfort is part of a good fit
Swimming goggles should be secure enough to stay in place, but they do not need to be uncomfortably tight.
Strong pressure points are not proof that the goggles seal better. If a model only remains comfortable when you are constantly adjusting the strap, it is worth trying a different shape.
This is especially true when you swim for longer periods at a time. A minor irritation during fitting can become quite uncomfortable over time.
How to deal with leaking kids' goggles
The same basic approach applies to children: look at the fit first and then check the strap.
Kids' goggles should fit around the eyes without needing to be tightened extremely. Check that the goggles are straight and that there is no hair between the edge and the skin.
Also look at the size of the frame. Goggles that are clearly too large for the face may be more difficult to seal all the way around.
For that reason, do not automatically keep tightening the strap when water enters. Put the goggles on again first and check how the edge sits around the eyes.
For children, simple adjustment is particularly practical. If the goggles need to be straightened again after every few lengths, it is worth taking another look at the fit.
When do you probably need different swimming goggles?
Have you put the goggles on again, adjusted the strap correctly and checked that nothing is caught under the seal, but do they keep leaking in the same place?
In that case, a different shape may suit your face better. This does not mean that the current swimming goggles are poor quality. The same goggles can fit two people very differently.
So do not keep compensating indefinitely with a tighter strap. If the basic shape does not fit properly, another model is often the simplest solution.
How to prevent your swimming goggles from leaking
When swimming goggles leak, tighter is not automatically better. Start with the seal around your eyes and check the strap afterwards.
Put the goggles on straight, keep hair and the edge of your swim cap out of the seal, and adjust the strap only as tightly as needed to keep the goggles in place.
If water continues to enter in the same place even though the goggles are adjusted correctly, the shape probably does not suit your face as well. Trying a different fit is then more useful than tightening the current model even further.