Keeping goggles in place during a racing start isn’t easy. If this hasn’t happened to your child yet, it almost certainly will: your child’s goggles are on nice and tight before he dives in from the blocks, only to come to the surface with his goggles around his neck. At this point he either proceeds forward as best he can or gets so thrown off by the surprise that he does something that gets him disqualified.
The question, frequently asked, is surprisingly unanswered online and you’re more likely to find tips on keeping water out or keeping them fog free than this, the most common and frustrating of challenges for kids.
Keeping Goggles in Place: How To
There is a trick to keeping goggles on through the start of a race, and it doesn’t involve adjusting the strap so tight that your child goes to bed that night with rings around his eye sockets:
Have your swimmer tuck his head down chin to chest just before entering the water. With this, the force of the water upon entry doesn’t directly apply pressure to the goggles in a downward direction.
Keep the goggle straps comfortably tight (not eye-popping tight), and practice the dive several times to avoid the mistake of having the head tuck cause the dive to be too deep. The ideal scenario is to look forward at the very beginning of the start to get a good sight on the line of entry, then as the arms and hands move forward into a streamline position, tuck the chin into the chest. This is roughly the way coaches want the head to be positioned for streamlining anyway, keeping the head tucked for the first couple of seconds while kicking ferociously before breaking the surface.
Practicing this streamlined racing dive will not only make for a faster start, but will hopefully help your swimmer keep those goggles on his head where they belong.
