FINIS Smart Googles Powered by Ciye
Benefits for triathletes (as opposed to purely pool swimmers)
a. Many triathletes rely on an assortment of pools to get their training done. Sometimes the pools are not set up for pure swimming, so clocks are not optimally placed. I found that these goggles provided me a clock in the heads-up display (HUD) that I could rely on to get my workouts completed. Having the goggles count laps for long reps was also a great value! The device displayed my lap times, set times, number of laps, number of sets.
b. In the open water I found that these goggles will register 180° turns and display your splits. I found this to be an adequate compensation for not having GPS. GPS is often inaccurate in the open water anyway. With the goggles registering split times every time I made a 180° turn, I was able to swim a consistent course and know how I was swimming relative to other times I swam that course. A triathlete can set up a couple buoys and set a baseline to build their workout around. This is much more reliable than GPS because you can also not worry about current, waves, etc. and instead just compare your effort to your split times.
c. Triathletes and open water swimmers will also benefit from having the elapsed time in the HUD because they can see how long they have been swimming relative to distance covered if they know the estimated distance between buoys or at turn buoys. For example, in Ironman branded races, the color of the buoys typically changes at the halfway point so you can see your time at the halfway point without breaking stroke.
d. Triathletes and open water swimmers can also gauge their effort by stroke rate which can be selected as a HUD in addition to elapsed time.
Would you recommend them to your athletes? (why or why not)
Yes, I would recommend them to my athletes. I have found them to be valuable in the open water swims but also in the pool. It has given me more data to analyze and find places to improve. I find the data it gives is insightful and not “just noise”. In the open water I can see split times around a consistent distance as well as stroke rate. I can use this data to see how I trend in terms of pace and stroke rate. Do I start with a high turnover and get lazy? Or if my stroke rate is the same but time gets slower, should I consider focusing on my sighting?
In the pool, I know the distance, so these metrics are even more significant. While I am swimming, I can see my split times easily as I am swimming instead of craning my neck around to find a clock mid-stroke. I found that I quickly became spoiled by seeing my split times in the HUD. After the workout, I was able to see how my pacing was through the workout and through each set. On my 400s, I could see if I faded or built into the effort like I intended. There was no rounding or justifying times. The app has a friendly visual display to view a graph of your splits over a set.
These goggles give an athlete the ability to track important data so I will recommend my athletes get a pair if they want to find gains in their swim.
Do you feel the price is worth the value of the product?
Yes, I feel the value is worth the price. I find the goggle itself to be a high quality goggle that I would like to wear on it’s own. The Ciye smart device has improved the quality of my training so far. If you compare this to a power meter for cycling, it is much less expensive. If you compare it to a power meter for running (like Stryd) it is on par, except with this you also get the added value of a great goggle. The Ciye device can also be taken out of the goggle and put in another goggle so you can replace goggles after time, wear, or for a different tint without replacing the device. Another advantage of the device is that you can adjust your HUD based on personal preference or training objective.
What were the top three things you liked?
1. Registering splits at 180° buoy turns in the open water
2. Seeing stroke rate in the HUD
3. Dissecting data in the app after workouts
Anything athletes should keep in mind?
1. Nose piece is very adjustable and can slip when you are putting the goggles on - goggles are very secure once on.
2. The device can take about 5 seconds to register you are resting at the wall, so if your rest is shorter than that it will not pick up the new interval. This could be an indication that you need to adjust your recovery time for sets.
3. The Ciye device covers about one-third of the goggle to the far-left. The only obstruction I have noticed so far is that it can make tracking swimmers to your left more difficult.
Finis Smart Goggle powered by Ciye will be in stock soon. Check the store online.
If you have any questions, please email headcoach@playtri.com.