Melissa Kirsch wrote an article in the New York Times called Out of Stock – that deeply resonated with me and possibly many other open water swimming.
Her New York Times colleague Steven Kurutz wrote another article, “When They Stop Selling Your Favorite Thing,” about the same conundrum. When I cannot find my favorite pair of goggles, waterproof MP3 player, watch, or any kind of swimming gear and wear or food, it drives me crazy.
Especially when the products are discontinued and absolutely nowhere to be found.
My old pair of goggles were so comfortable, with no leaking problems and no uncomfortableness no matter how long that I swim. out of my head. But then the goggles are discontinued by the manufacturer. It was a disaster in the pre-Internet era. I could write the manufacturer, but that always was a long shot and it never resulted in them finding a long-forgotten box of products in their inventory..
But now I can scour Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, and other online stores and sites. I can search for surplus inventory at the manufacturer’s distributors around the world – and occasionally I find other foreign distributors still offer the products that I cannot find in the United States. Sometimes, a retailer might have some of these long-forgotten products collecting dust in their back office.
But most times, I am plain out of luck.
So now, I have learned to keep a stash of my favorite goggles that will all be unused and boxed until 5, 10, 15 years from now.
Because I do not want to be without. I do not want to not go to the ocean or pool without my favorite pair of goggles that fit and have served me so well over the decades. When my wife first found my stash of unused goggles in their original packaging collecting dust in one of our closets, she asked me why I had so many goggles. I told her my reasoning and she understood.
Over the years, her favorite cosmetic or food, or a particular brand of moisturizer or shampoo that she loved have been discontinued by the manufacturers. She always misses the qualities that made those products desirable to her – so she understands my need to keep a stash of goggles stored for future use.
FINIS Smart Goggle
Daily News of Open Water Swimming readers can use the code SG60 which will allow readers, their teammates, and swimming friends to purchase the FINIS Smart Goggle for only US$40, a massive 60% discount.
The lens contains an easy-to-see in-goggle digital display that shows lap splits, lap count, total swim time, and your stroke rate. The Smart Goggle keeps track of workout details that syncs with an app, allowing sharing with Strava, Apple Health, and Swim.com.
James Guy, a six-time Olympic medalist from Great Britain, says “I have two reasons why I love the Smart Goggle. First of all, it is easy to use. You connect it with your phone and it’s done. Y ou don’t have to worry about it not working. And second, when you’re swimming, and the Smart goggles are on your face, you can see live feedback of your split time, how far you’re going, and your rest periods.”
Nathan Adrian, a five-time world champion who dramatically helped Michael Phelps win 8 Olympic gold medals in 2008 when an otherworldly anchor leg, says, “I love that running clock. I love being able to look over in my peripheral vision and see where I’m at within a length. I also love the accountability aspect. After every single repeat, I get my time down to the tenth.”
Olympic triathlete Henri Schoeman says, “The FINIS Smart Goggle has been my favorite piece of equipment in the pool. It has allowed me to be precise with pacing and stroke rate having all the data in my peripheral vision. It’s accurate and I can always count on it.”
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