Spurt

Spurt in South Africa

Spurt is a swimming brand, and its range is built for the pool rather than the dive site: caps, goggles, training aids and swimwear for learners, school squads, club swimmers and adults swimming lengths.

Caps and goggles

Most Spurt caps are 100 per cent silicone with a reinforced headband, and the plain and printed Lycra caps are the softer fabric choice. The Flexi Plain is the everyday squad cap, the Multi-Colour and Flag caps are easy to pick out across a lane, and printed caps such as Animal, Emoji, Junior Printed and Fun Printed are made for children. Find them in swim caps.

Cap sizes and fit

Not every cap is the same size. The Flexi Plain weighs 50 g and comes in 37 plain shades, the standard squad fit. The Animal Silicone cap, with moulded fins, tails or ears, is slightly smaller, and Spurt recommends it for babies up to about six years or older swimmers with less hair. The Hurricane has an embossed swirl and runs slightly smaller and tighter than a standard Spurt cap. The Retro Bubble is cut for a larger mass of hair, and Spurt suggests sitting the hair towards the lower back of the head. Lycra caps come in Small, for babies and children, and Large, for adults or children with more hair, and Spurt is clear they don't keep hair dry. To put a silicone cap on, hold it open with both hands inside, set the front on the forehead and pull it back over the hair. See plain and multi-colour caps and printed caps.

Goggles split by who's wearing them. The Splash, Flex and Blaze are junior goggles, in junior goggles. The Elite, Intermediate and Aqua Evolution racers have low-profile frames for racing, in racing goggles. The Open Water goggle has larger gaskets that sit on the outer eye socket for long swims, and the Optical Correction and Luminosity Optical goggles come in short-sighted corrections from -1.5 to -6.0, in prescription goggles. Clear lenses suit indoor pools, and tinted or mirror lenses suit bright outdoor water. Browse the lot in swimming goggles.

Getting goggles to fit

Fit decides whether goggles leak. The junior range is sized by age: the Blaze and Splash are listed for 2 to 8 years and the Flex for 6 to 10. The Intermediate Racer sits between junior and senior, with an adjustable nose piece in four sizes, and the Comfort and Luminosity are listed for about 12 years and up. Racers such as the Terminator, Tempo and Elite come with three interchangeable nose pieces. A quick test in the shop: press the goggles to the eyes without the strap. If they stay for a moment, the gaskets suit the face, and the strap only needs to hold them, not crush them.

Lens tint follows the light. Spurt lists the light-tint Manatee, Pace and Aquatic, and the clear Jellyfish, as best for indoor pools and low light. Mirror and dark tints, on goggles such as the Terminator and Tempo, cut glare in bright outdoor water. Spurt's goggles list anti-fog and UV protection on the lens, and rubbing the inside tends to wear that coating off faster.

Training aids and swimwear

Each training aid isolates one part of the stroke. A kickboard works the legs, a pull buoy between the thighs stops the kick so the arms do the work, and Spurt's air foil hand paddles, with flow holes to ease the load on the shoulder, build pulling strength. The short training fin is 100 per cent silicone and adds resistance without slowing the legs. Find them in kickboards, pull buoys and paddles and swimming training.

For learners, pool noodles, a back float, a doggy bone float and a floating mat are in learn to swim. Mouldable silicone ear plugs, plugs with ear attachments and a nose clip are in ear and nose protection, and the plain brief, fastback, thin strap and jammer swimsuits and drag suit shorts are in swimwear.

Prescription and open water goggles

Both prescription goggles carry the same strength in each lens, so they suit swimmers whose eyes need a similar short-sighted correction. The Optical Correction comes in smoke medium tint, blue medium tint or gold mirror dark tint, with an adjustable nose piece in small, medium and large. The Luminosity Optical has a clear lens, three interchangeable nose pieces and a split yoke strap that adjusts at the sides. For dam and sea swims, the Open Water goggle has a smoke medium tint lens and larger soft silicone gaskets, in camo and green, grey and black, or pink and black frames.

Training aid sizes

Kickboards come in a junior 3cm and senior 3cm or 4cm thickness, and pull buoys in Junior and Senior, all in closed cell polyethylene foam. Training hand paddles come in small, medium and large, though not every colour is in every size. The short training fin runs from UK 12.5 to 1 up to UK 11.5 to 12.5 and has a skid-resistant sole for pool decks. If a fin slips, the Spurt fin support goes on the outside of the fin in extra small, medium or large, and the two come off together. Find fins in swimming fins.

For learners, Spurt is direct about supervision: the 2 m pool noodle is labelled not a safety aid, and the back float, with removable sections that reduce the buoyancy as a child improves, is for use with an adult.

Swimwear sizes and the small extras

The plain swimwear is from Spurt's Extra Life line. The brief and jammer run from size 20 to 42, the fastback from 24 to 44 and the thin strap from 24 to 38, in black, navy, red and royal blue depending on the cut. The drag suit shorts come in size 28. Ear plugs come two ways: the mouldable silicone plugs roll into a ball and press over the outer ear, and the plugs with ear attachments come in medium and large with a case. The nose clip comes in flexible silicone, plastic and silicone, or metal and latex, and the latex one isn't suitable for anyone with a latex allergy. See ladies and girls swimwear and men and boys swimwear.

Care and spares

Chlorine shortens the life of silicone and elastic. Rinse caps in fresh water after the pool and dry them flat out of direct sun, as Spurt advises on its caps. Rinse goggles in clean water, let them dry, and store them in a case rather than loose in a bag where the lenses scratch. The hardshell goggle case holds two pairs. A broken strap doesn't mean new goggles: the silicone goggle strap fits every adjustable Spurt goggle, and the hand paddle strap fits every Spurt paddle. Find them in goggle accessories and goggle cases.