The Speedo Speed Socket is a high grade goggle for competitive swimmers. Here’s a review of this popular slim-profile goggle.
Speedo is one of the first choices of high performance swimming gear for aquatic athletes. They have long been known for their elite racing suits, most recently the Speedo LZR Racer X kneeskin and LZR Racer X jammers. So common is the brand Speedo that non-swimmers generally refer to swim suits—briefs in particular—as “Speedos.”
Their dominance of the competitive swimming apparel space extends itself to goggles. While the FastSkin3 Elite generally gets all the attention at the big meets like the Olympics and World Championships, Speedo’s other goggles are just as popular with both competitive and lap swimmers alike.
The most common of these is the Speedo Speed Socket goggle. Here’s a breakdown of what is one of the best swimming goggles available for swimmers.
Quick Facts: Speedo Speed Socket Goggles
They are built with shatter-proof, polycarbonate lenses. The goggles are produced to take a beating. Just because they are designed to be indestructible means you should do jumping jacks on them, however.
The straps are made of super durable silicone. Unlike goggles like the classic Swedish goggles, or one of my favorites, the TYR Socket Rockets, the straps are made of silicone and not rubber. Silicone is significantly more durable, and less likely to snap on you after repeated exposure to chlorine and general wear. While many goggle straps will degrade quickly, the Speed Socket’s silicone straps last like crazy.
Designed for high performance. These goggles were developed and refined at Speedo’s high performance research and development facility, called Aqualab, located in the United Kingdom. The goggles have been tested with hundreds of elite swimmers from across the world, all with the goal of creating a goggle that is durable and comfortable, but also hydrodynamic and fast.
Multiple nose bridges. One of the things I love about Swedes is that you can get completely customize the fit of the goggle. The Speed Socket comes with 3 different nose bridges. While the one out of the package fit my face properly, if you have a particularly wide or narrow nose you will have to change them in and out. There are also no replacement nose bridges, which means you need to buy a new set of goggles when it eventually breaks.
Better peripheral than the Vanquishers. Speedo’s other popular mid-range swim goggle, the Vanquisher 2.0, is similarly built, but the peripheral is not as good as the Speed Socket. Both goggles share a lot of features, including the double silicon strap, the plastic nose bridges, and the rubberized gasket.
Who else wears the Speedo Speed Socket Goggles?
This google is really popular with elite swimmers. Michael Phelps wore these particular goggles for a long time in competition, from the time he was signed by Speedo until the time he launched his own line of Michael Phelps Xceed swimming goggles in 2014.
More recently, sprint phenom Caeleb Dressel of the United States lit the 2017 FINA World Championships on fire while wearing these goggles, winning the 50 and 100 freestyles, and the 100 butterfly, two of those in times that are the fastest ever performed in a textile suit.
Dressel wore the black/gold polarised Speed Sockets.
What’s the difference between the Vanquishers 2.0 and the Speed Sockets?
If you look at both goggles, they are basically identical.
That being said, the Speed Socket is better designed for competition. It has a slightly slimmer profile than the Vanquishers, and as mentioned before, better peripheral vision.
Where to Buy the Speedo Speed Socket
The Speed Socket goggle is available in a few different colors, from your mirrored and polarized tints and lenses, to your clear lenses (ideal for darker, indoor pools).
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The Top 6 Best Swimming Goggles. A quick breakdown of our favorite six swim goggles for the high performance competitive swimmer, whether you are looking for goggles for training or racing.
