Goggles are NOT recommended especially for beginners.
At the Farnsworth Swim School, we never recommend using goggles to start off because this creates a dependency on them & a crutch. It might make things easier in the short-term because they feel safer when they open their eyes, but it makes it harder in the long-term. Our goal is water safety and empowering our swimmers to be the best swimmers possible.
Being dependent on goggles when 1st learning is not setting the swimmer up for success! By learning without goggles, this trains the swimmer to be comfortable putting their face in the water and with opening their eyes.
Moving through the discomfort of putting their face in the water is a hurdle that they need to move through to be a good swimmer. Once they have mastered opening their eyes and are comfortable with their face in the water, they can use goggles. I would only recommend goggles for intermediate- advanced swimmers. The purpose of goggles is for lap swimming.
