Leaking Swim Goggles Solution Needed

I wish I had a solution for leaking goggles and am hoping some inventive swimmer out there would like to share his/her solution with the masses (and no, getting another pair is not the creative solution I'm seeking). BTW, I'll give you full credit or the solution!

I've got the problem in two new pair (an older third pair does not have the problem) and it drives me nuts. The leaks are both in the right-hand lens gasket (both are rubber molded frame goggles) which I thought might have something to do with the shape of my face, but I've ruled that out when I found that the seal between my face and the eye cup was at fault. When I wet my face and press the goggles to it to get a tight seal, I hear air sucking into the cup and the goggle falls off my face. This does not happen with the left side which holds a tight seal.

Anyone have a solution?

What to do if an owl falls in your swimming pool

Yes an owl. I know this is something everyone wants to know, so I had to link to it. :) Here's the story. Nice pictures to go with it.

When to Get a New Swim Suit

I had to buy a new swim suit last night after concluding the two I had been swapping between daily swims were both dead and gone beyond hope. How did I decide? If you are a regular swimmer, you know that the typical lycra suit lasts a given amount of time and then it just dies. Seriously, swim suits die. Mercifully, the death is usually quite fast if you know what to look for.

Here's how I know when my suits have died.
1. They don't hug tight to your body when dry. If they are barely loose, they are already dying. If they sag, they are dead.
2. They billow up when you are swimming. These are dead too. Stay in the pool and feel your performance fail you. Get out and watch what gravity does to your tightly toned buttocks.
3. They develop a molting look, generally in the seat area. This is where the fabric has lost its elasticity. If you look closely, you may actually see the broken elastic in the weave of the knitting. This eventually breaks down to the point where the suit is nearly see-through (especially dangerous with any non-black suits).

So, when your suit is dead, do yourself and everyone else a favor and get a new one ASAP.

One Mean Swim Coach

Here is a man-made pond that I'd like to swim in. Nice, creative landscaping (humor). When going past this thing, I think I'd consider breathing on the other side.

Swimming Boredom Solution? MP3 player that gets wet

I've been wondering about these MP3 players that go in the water and I came across this video today which was embedded in an ad inside Swimming World Newsletter. Excellent presentation and quite informative. No, I'm not endorsing the product - I've never used it. But this video is cool and makes me want to try it. Kind of pricey, though. Hey, Finis! Send me one to try and I'll post a writeup here on this blog.

Free Diving - Details Revealed from the Deep

I just finished a great article in the Aug 24, 2009, issue of The New Yorker about the sport of free diving. It goes into tremendous detail about what happens to the body, mind, and of course, lungs, during a free dive. Excellent reading. Sorry, no link since it is available online only to New Yorker subscribers - I just found that out. Get this issue - you won't be sorry.

Underwater Rugby

Looks like a good way to train - I'm serious.

Check out the cool pics on the Moof.com website.

Using a wet suit to train? Are you as worthy as this guy?

How to get rid of cankles

I'm no physical trainer but I feel I've found a remedy for cankles.

What are cankles? --> ankles that don't slim down below the calf creating the appearance of a seamless area between the knee and the foot. Great name huh?

The remedy? Swim! Put an emphasis on kickboard work. Even if you can't swim, you probably can do kickboard. (No kickboard? Loop a pool noodle end over end and point those ends forward, hold the sides just like you would a kickboard.)

When kicking, try to point your toes higher than your heels as you swim your foot up toward the surface. When you draw down toward or into the water, flop your feet. Try to create a splash.

All this will work the ankle/calf region and tone that area. Do this several times a week for at least 10 minutes. Expect this length of time to be a bit difficult at first - build up to it if you must. You will quickly become accustomed to kicking for distance.

You should start seeing results in a month. Stick with it a year and your legs should start really looking in shape.

For expert advice, ask a physical trainer or swimming coach.

Scared of Swimming? A good reason to not feel bad about that

I found this link under the heading, "Why I'm Scared of Swimming".

Ordinarily I would argue, but in this case, I simply can not. The author has a pretty good argument (pics too).

How many lifeguards does it take to guard me?

Woke this morning to the wonderful pitter patter of rain on my west facing window. It's a sound I love and I would have preferred to lie there and just enjoy the sound but my personal drive to not allow much of anything get in the way of my workout won over and I found myself at the pool. The Masters group was just leaving as the sun was coming up and those people (if you can call them that) - like werewolves and vampires - disappear at first light. I digress, anyhow, upon my second lap, I found myself with my own 50 meter pool - just me and (get ready) six lifeguards surrounding the pool (yes I said SIX). I completed about 7/8ths of my workout (about 50 minutes worth) before another person dipped a toe in the water. I really regret keeping my face under water (doing freestyle) that whole time. It really was quite special. I just have to wonder, if I had had trouble, which guard would have jumped in first, or would they all just looked at each other and continued to hug their knees under their towels that was kept the rain off.

A Guy Takes His iPhone to the Pool and ...

Watch it to the end - that's where things happen. Ooops!

Pencil This In - How to Make Swimming Easier

I've mentioned the pencil technique in past posts, but it's been a while, so I decided to revisit the concept after overhearing a lifeguard give a struggling (e.g., splashing) middle-age swimmer some advice about stroke motion, that while correct, neglected the rest of his body and surely left the poor man wanting.

Using the pencil technique in a nutshell is akin to swimming like a pencil - nose-to-toes straight like an arrow (point forward), minimal friction (minimal water resistance) on all sides, and side-to-side rolling (as one would turn the pencil from the eraser end keeping the point in the same spot).

The pencil technique is only the start, but if all aspects of the swim stroke include maintaining this one dynamic, I promise you or your swimmer-trainee will find swimming easier than without it.

You too can use Echolocation

Wired Magazine is reporting a new way to tap into your inner dolphin. Scientists have confirmed that humans can learn echolocation or the ability to make sounds to detect objects in their immediate surroundings. Check out the article for more details.

No word if this would work underwater, so don't start thinking you are going to win all those Marco Polo games now.

Lifeguard!

Check out the lifeguard station in the bottom right corner. Click link for a huge blowup of the picture (no pun intended ... pretty good pun though, huh?).

Yard Art

This is just too cool for me to describe in words. Check it out.

Even shows good form!

Heavy Breathing Required

Here's a video of William Trubridge doing a freedive that will absolutely make you feel like a whimp, I guarantee. Awesome. BTW, I may have mistitled this post. He doesn't even look like he's out of breath at the end. Watch how cool he is in his ascent (where I would ... if I could ... be freak'n out to get up).

Craziest Swimming Pool Trick Ever - I Promise

I am guessing this guy understood the ramification of failure had he done this wrong. Scroll down to the fourth picture.

DO NOT TRY THIS!

How to Clean your Goggles

I get goggle glop, do you? Goggle glop is my term for the cake-like buildup that forms on the outside of goggles around the frame. If you take your fingernail, you can dig it off. If the goggles are wet, you can scrub it off with a firm finger (note, neither is my solution ... keep reading).

I imagine the glop is a buildup of sweat and other body crud (any other theories?). It's very odd, since I don't wear the goggles outside of the pool, aside from a quick trot to the showers. One would think any body excretions would simply wash away in the pool. But no, it cakes up.

My solution is to place the gloppy goggles in a bowl, filled with dishwashing detergent in water (lots of suds), and place the bowl outside in the sun (or a warm, sunny window). The glop, rinses off given a few hours in the solution. Sometimes you must rub it just a little. The sun is to keep the solution warm so there is more energy to break down the glop bonds. A warm lamp near the solution, might do as well (I do not suggest boiling your goggles or anything of that sort).

This works for me, what works for you?

Note: I still haven't figured out how to deal with discoloration (nice clear rubber turning into greenish/yellowish rubber over time - perhaps I need to keep the goggles outside in the light, rather than inside my bag all day).

Why the Phelps Phenomenon is Not for Me

If you were a kid watching the Olympics late last summer, I'm guessing you probably got at least a small itch to try swimming as your chosen sport. And it may have even stuck with you through the spring-time. How do I know this? Well the number of kids who have joined the premier swim team (the ones who build the Olympic athletes out of the XBox generation) in my city has grown by 25 percent this summer.

Good for them you say? OK, I'll agree, good for them ... but not for me.

I happen to work out at the same time the team practices - dawn - and the coach, flush with cash from his new arrivals, has bought the rights to an additional lap lane in the pool. Until this year, they had always used half the pool. Cool, right? We get half, they get half. Not any more.

Thanks to the Michael phenomenon, they're taking over our space. This forces us early risers (of which there always have been quite a few), we of all varieties of skill and speed, to move over, smile and pretend we loyal members still count for anything.

Thanks for your time and chance to rant.