Pool News
Magic 5 Swim Goggles Are The Wave of the Future
Fresh off his recent appearance on NBC’s Shark Tank, Rasmus Barfred one of the co-founders of the innovative new Magic 5 swim goggles discusses their revolutionary new product. One that not only caught his company a couple of sharks eager to invest but is making the world reimagine how a performance swim goggle should fit.
Barfred and his partners Bo Haaber (CEO) and Niklas Hedegaard (COO) successfully pitched their product for investment on the hit TV show back in October. In our one-on-one interview, we asked Barfred how he and his colleagues first got into the competitive swim goggle space.
Behind The Magic 5 Swim Goggles
“It came out of our own frustrations with the existing goggles on the market,” said Barfred, “we both did Triathalon and the idea came upon us when Bo attended a training vacation in Europe and forgot his goggles. He went out and bought whatever he could find but nothing really worked for him. So, he ended up being in this training camp for 2 weeks and not really swimming. That’s where we basically started up with the idea.”
Co-founder, Bo Haaber has a background in software development, while Niklas Hedegaard was a professional swimmer for the Danish national team. Rasmus Barfred brought his experience in launching startups and branding, and the Magic 5 team was born.
In describing how he and his partners came up with the Magic 5 brand name, Barfred said the name applies to the innovative tech which is actually where the magic happens. “We quickly realized that we wanted to make a product that catered to everyone who swims,” said Barfred, “not just triathletes and competitive swimmers. We wanted to make a product that we could sell to everyone and that meant that we had to have a price point that was competitive. We put ourselves in a situation where we wanted to apply technology in the last 5% of the product where we could create a product that fit much better.”
What’s Different About The Magic 5 Swim Goggles?
The product differentiates itself from all others on the market in that the Magic 5 goggles are specifically designed for the end-users face. We took a deeper dive with Barfred who broke down the technology behind what makes Magic 5 so unique.
“All other swimming goggles are kind of ‘one-size-fits-all’. Now matter how big a face you have, or how deep your eye sockets are, you buy a product from a retailer and just hope for the best,” said Barfred, “We turned that around and wanted to make one product for one customer. It is bespoke product and a tailor-made goggle.”
Consumers who are looking for a custom-fit pair of swim goggles, can hop onto the Magic 5 website and download their proprietary face-scanning app. The technology maps every contour of the customer’s face and links that data to their order. This is where the magic happens.
Using AI Technology To Build Better Goggles
“Our AI technology is basically a huge set of rules that we have learned over the course of the last four years. These rules determine and understand how we should produce the product so that it fits your face the best possible way,” explained Barfred.
The end result is a swim goggle that is 100% unique to the end-user and is custom-tailored to only fit their face and no one else’s. The incredibly personalized and precision-made fit, ensures zero leakage thanks to special gaskets used in the product design. This technology allows for better fitting goggles that never leak and don’t leave unsightly suction marks on the swimmers who wear them.
“When people put on the goggles for the first time, they’re like ‘wow, this is very different than what I’m used to’,” said Barfred, “the goggles are molded to your eyes. When you swim, you don’t need to wear the strap as tight. We have a lot of customers who can’t believe how well they work strapped on so loose, but if you dive in you can feel the difference at how well the goggles naturally sit on your face.”
Introduction To The Swimming Goggle Market
The road from concept to completion started off with a grassroots campaign on Kickstarter to crowdsource participation from the swimming community. Generating an incredible response, the founders were able to raise over $100,000 from 1,184 backers who believed in the product. “Today, we have over 70,000 customers wearing our goggles,” said Barfed.
Over 90% reported that the product fit better than the goggles they currently used. Having received rave reviews in SwimSwam, Swim News, and a variety of other journals, it is safe to say that the swimming community is excited about The Magic 5. The product received approval from the International Governing Body of Swimming (FINA) which makes the goggles approved for usage in competition. Most recently, three athletes competed wearing The Magic 5 goggles in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Initial testers of the product included a list of olympic athletes, professional swimmers, pro triathletes, top-tier swim coaches, and regular swimmers from across the globe. In fact, Olympic gold medalists Jan Frodeno and Matt Grevers came on as professional athlete endorsers and investors in the product, adding their passion and value to The Magic 5 brand.
Positioning In The Global Swim Goggle Market
Both competitive and recreational swimmers are incredibly focused on improving their technique. Having a better fitting goggle allows them to focus more on swimming; thereby providing a better experience for the end-user. “The bulk of our customers are recreational swimmers,” said Barfred, “for us, it is important because it is the biggest sector of the market.”
While most Triathletes reportedly spent an average of $48 for a pair of swim goggles, swimmers on the high-end spent an average of $80. The Magic 5 is competitively positioned with goggles retailing for $55-$65 per pair.
Exactly how big is the swim goggle market? “Approximately 70 million people or 9% of the population of the western world, swim for fitness purposes,” said Barfred. “On average, these consumers buy one pair of goggles per year. It’s like a pair of running shoes, you wear them down over time and need a new pair.”
Barfred also noted that recreational and competitive swimmers often buy 2 pairs of goggles, one for outdoor swimming and one for indoor swimming. With a line of different colored lenses to suit both, Magic 5 is appealing to those who are looking for a more satisfying swimming experience.
The Magic 5 on Shark Tank
Capturing a larger portion of the roughly $6 billion dollar swim goggle market is first priority for The Magic 5 and was their driving intention to go on Shark Tank. Appearing on the show to pitch their product to the sharks presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Denmark natives.
“Just having the opportunity to go on Shark Tank was a really big deal for us,” said Barfred, “to put things in comparison, there are as many viewers of each Shark Tank episode as there are people in Denmark.”
The Magic 5 founders were well prepared to pitch to the sharks, immediately winning them over with the tech behind the goggles. “I think one of our advantages is that our business is born in data and technology,” explained Barfred, “everything that goes on behind the scenes is data-driven. From how you scan your face, to how we make sure that every goggle is produced to fit the exact curvature of your eyes and really giving you that next-level experience.”
Attracting The Sharks
“I think that whole narrative the sharks really resonated with,” said Barfred “we really understand the data points in our business. I think we were in a good position to share data and strategy and what we want to achieve. We feel we are solving a genuine problem for swimmers with our product. The most important thing to fix was the fit and comfort of a pair of swimming goggles and we’ve done that,” he explained.
It certainly struck a chord with Mark Cuban who threw out the first offer of $500,000 for a 7.5% equity stake after immediately recognizing the potential of not only the product, but the technology driving it. “You’re not a goggle company,” said Cuban, “this is a technology company, it’s a robotics company that happens to make swimming goggles.”
A Bidding War Erupts Between The Sharks
Ultimately a bidding war broke out with Kevin O’Leary and guest shark Nirav Tolia throwing in their lot together to counter offer $500,000 for 5% equity, plus a royalty of $3 a unit. Sharks Robert Herjavec and Lori Greiner looked poised to counter that with an offer of $500,000 for 5% with no royalty.
That moment was the turning point in the conversation for the Magic 5 founders who would spend additional time off-camera pitching their product. “We were in the tank pitching it for 55 minutes, what you see on television is only a snapshot of that. As soon it was established that we were a technology company that makes swim goggles, we actually got 2 offers from each of them,” said Barfred.
On camera, Robert Herjavec decided to go solo at the last second and dropped a bombshell offering of $1M for 6.5% which the founders were thrilled to accept.
“At the end, we actually wound up making a deal with Robert Herjavec, his daughter was a competitive swimmer in Canada. He actually said at one point, ‘why has no one made this before, this makes so much sense. This is a product that is relevant to all swimmers in all walks of life’ and we couldn’t agree more.” said Barfred.
Ultimately Cuban wound up coming in on the investment with Herjavec after the show aired. “They decided to split the deal and asked us if we were interested in that and of course we were,” said Barfred. Having both involved in the deal would mean twice the firepower and a tremendous show of faith from the two sharks.
The path is brightly lit for The Magic 5. Given the amount of data they are getting from consumers and how applicable the AI technology is in the application of other products, we asked Rasmus whether he saw the potential for other Magic 5 products on the horizon.
“Right now we have a very clear strategy for our business and swimming goggle product. We live and breath the goggles and we think it’s such a good opportunity,” said Barfred, “there is no one else on the market that does what we do and no one that caters to all swimmers on the market. The more customers we get, the more data we get, the easier it is to branch into other products. The swimming goggles are our greenhouse.”
Listen to our entire interview with Rasmus Barfred, co-founder of Magic 5 on the Pool Magazine Podcast
Poolside Adventures and Landmark Aquatic have joined forces to bring big-impact attractions with a small footprint to aquatic facilities across the country. The partnership pairs Poolside Adventures’ AquaClimb®, AquaZip’N® and AquaNinja® FLX attractions with Landmark’s expansive nationwide reach and proven expertise in aquatic facility design, construction, renovation, and maintenance.
Poolside Adventures attractions add excitement to aquatic facilities without a major renovation because they anchor directly to an existing pool deck with no water hookups, special tools or added concrete and reinforcement. In fact, the modular AquaClimb® walls can start with one section and grow with budgets. The AquaZip’N® is rapidly becoming a new, safer alternative to diving boards as it only requires four feet of water depth, can be installed in just a few hours, and has a throughput of six riders a minute.
“Some municipalities can’t afford a new water park or perhaps cannot renovate their pool this year,” said Cherie Moy, VP of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships for Poolside Adventures. “Our products are an easy answer: a big impact with a small footprint, adding an ‘active attraction’ that makes the pool more exciting.”
“Landmark has a large footprint across the country, and we’re especially excited about their reach into HOA communities, a growing market where our partnership has already led to multiple installations,” said Moy. “Together, we will help clients find the right fit for their space, their budget and to add action and adventure to their pool experience.”
Matt Cappello, Vice President of Design at Landmark Aquatic agrees saying, “We’re excited to collaborate with Poolside Adventures to promote the versatility, ease of installation and entertainment value their products will bring to more pools across the country.”
About Landmark
Since 1967, Landmark Aquatic has helped communities and organizations bring complex aquatic facilities to life and keep them performing. Today, we are the nation’s largest integrated commercial aquatics platform, providing design, construction, renovation, restoration, and maintenance services nationwide. Our construction-led expertise and long-term service capabilities give customers one trusted partner across every stage of a facility’s lifecycle. For the life of your pool. Learn more at www.landmarkaquatic.com.
About Poolside Adventures
For more than 20 years, Poolside Adventures’ flagship AquaClimb® has led the market for poolside climbing walls. Its full line, including the AquaClimb® Luxe, AquaZip’N® and AquaNinja® FLX, delivers challenging, safe fun for swimmers of all ages. For more about Poolside Adventures visit www.aquaclimb.com.
Vic Harshman brings extensive pool building experience to key leadership role
- Decades of proven pool construction experience across Nevada, Arizona and Texas
- Previously served as Shasta Pools’ exclusive excavation contractor
- Predecessor handpicked Harshman to grow position under new leadership team
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (October 5, 2026) – Shasta Pools, Phoenix Metro’s most recognized pool builder, named Vic Harshman as Head of Residential Construction. Harshman joins the new leadership team with more than three decades of hands-on industry experience and a long-standing relationship with the company to one of its most critical leadership roles.
Harshman has held senior construction leadership positions in Arizona and Texas, and worked closely with Shasta Pools, developing firsthand knowledge about the company’s standards, culture and customers. The appointment reflects the momentum Shasta Pools has built since its August 6 acquisition by Dansons Capital Group, Accrual Equity Partners, and Hydro Construction, and positions the full-service 60-year old pool company for continued growth.
Leadership Perspective
“Vic brings exactly the kind of no-nonsense, customer-first leadership our residential construction division needs,” said Jeff Thiessen, President, Dansons Capital Group. “His philosophy is deeply aligned with ours. Keeping customers’ needs as the foremost priority at every stage of the build process is at the center of everything we do, and Vic lives that every day.”
Harshman’s career in pool construction began at age 19, when he purchased a backhoe and launched a business digging plumbing trenches and footings. When the housing market declined in the late 1980s, he relocated to Las Vegas and began excavating swimming pools, a move that led to the creation of Harshman Excavating.
Harshman built and operated excavation businesses in Nevada, Arizona and Texas, primarily serving the pool industry, and served for a period as Shasta’s exclusive excavation contractor.
In 2012, Harshman joined A&A Manufacturing, serving pool builders across an eight-state region and growing annual sales by 10x. In 2020, he joined Keith Zars Pools in Texas as Director of Construction, where he brought together decades of ownership, leadership and industry knowledge.
A Return Rooted in Relationships
“I have always believed that strong relationships, hard work, accountability and taking care of people are the foundation of a successful business,” said Vic Harshman, Head of Residential Construction, Shasta Pools. “Shasta has been a meaningful part of my career for many years. I am genuinely excited to come back and help lead this team into a very exciting future.”
Harshman steps into the role with the full support of Dan Thiessen, Chairman of the new ownership team, and John Mortensen, the outgoing head of residential construction. Mortensen recommended Harshman for the position and will now serve as the company’s lead trainer. That transition reflects Shasta Pools’ commitment to investing in its people and preserving institutional knowledge as the organization continues to grow.
ABOUT SHASTA POOLS:
Shasta Pools is Arizona’s trusted name in custom pool building, proudly serving the Valley since 1966. For 60 years, Shasta has transformed backyards into beautiful, functional spaces where families relax, entertain and enjoy life. The company specializes in new pool construction, remodeling, pool service and landscape design with plans for expansion into the home services market to provide customers with complete home care solutions. Learn more at ShastaPools.com.
ABOUT DANSONS CAPITAL GROUP:
Dansons Capital Group, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a family-owned and family-managed investment firm built on shared values, integrity and long-term vision. The firm was established by the founders of Dansons, Inc., the company that launched and sold Pit Boss Grills. The company takes a hands-on approach, actively seeking opportunities across global markets and multiple asset classes. Its growing portfolio includes strategic real estate development holdings across multiple countries, oil drilling technologies, and limited partnership investments. Guided by a deep commitment to quality and the communities they serve, the Thiessen family leads with gratefulness for the blessings God has given them and in turn supports those less fortunate. Dansons Capital Group continues to identify and cultivate opportunities that reflect their family’s values and generational vision.
ABOUT ACCRUAL EQUITY PARTNERS:
Accrual Equity Partners (AEP) is a founder-led, privately funded private equity group built on the belief that every person, every percentage, and every product matters. This commitment, known as the “Power of One,” drives AEP’s mission to empower businesses and secure legacies across fragmented, service-based industries. AEP partners with founder-led and family-owned businesses to overcome barriers and unlock their full potential through strategic investment, operational performance enhancement, and advisory services. For more information, visit AccrualEquityPartners.com.
ABOUT HYDRO CONSTRUCTION:
Hydro Construction, LLC (HydroCon) was founded in 1986 to serve Arizona’s commercial pool construction and renovation market. Under the leadership of Curt Lonsdale, the company’s commercial pool construction division now manages some of the largest and most complex projects in the country.
Flowood, MS, October 1 – The National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) is pleased to announce the addition of Jennifer Ibe as Membership and Sponsorship Sales Manager and Rachel Smith as Membership Marketing Manager. The two new positions strengthen NTCA’s focus on membership growth, retention, engagement, and delivering greater value to members.
“Growing and strengthening our membership is a key priority for the NTCA, and Jennifer and Rachel bring the experience and expertise to help us do that,” said Jeremy Sax, Deputy Director of NTCA. “Their complementary skills will allow us to take a more strategic approach to both membership development and the overall member experience.”
Jennifer Ibe, Membership and Sponsorship Sales Manager
Ibe brings more than 10 years of experience in association events, sales, sponsorships, relationship management, and strategic growth. Most recently, she served as Director of Sponsorship and Sales for the Global Workspace Association, where she led major conferences, sponsorship development, budgets, and initiatives that increased attendance by 33% and profitability by 30%.
At the NTCA, Ibe will lead membership recruitment, retention, re-engagement, and relationship development while supporting sponsorship and partner revenue opportunities. She will also represent the NTCA at major industry events and help strengthen relationships with members and prospective members.
Ibe holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Rachel Smith, Membership Marketing Manager
Smith brings extensive association experience in membership, communications, digital engagement, and member programming. Most recently, she served as Digital Communications Manager for the Association of Electric Companies of Texas. Previously, as Director of Membership for the Texas Economic Development Council, she managed more than 1,000 members and developed programs to increase member engagement and networking. She also served as Membership Coordinator for the Texas Association of Community Health Centers, where she managed more than 5,000 members and led new-member onboarding and retention initiatives.
At NTCA, Smith will focus on member onboarding, retention campaigns, communications, digital engagement, webinars, events, and community development. She will also support membership analytics and digital initiatives aimed at strengthening the member experience.
Smith holds a B.A. in Communications with a minor in Social Justice from West Virginia Wesleyan College.
“Jennifer’s focus on relationship-building and membership development, combined with Rachel’s experience in member communications and engagement, gives us a strong team focused on every stage of the member journey,” Sax added. “We’re excited about what this means for our members and for the future growth of NTCA.”
About NTCA
Established in 1947, the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) is a nonprofit trade association dedicated to the professional installation of ceramic tile and natural stone. It is widely recognized as the largest and most respected tile contractors’ association in the world. For those seeking to improve their tile business, NTCA provides unparalleled educational experiences, supportive peer interaction, unique cost-savings programs, and a commitment to help develop the skills needed to improve your work, recruit, train, and manage your employees, and ultimately, make your business more profitable. Find out more at www.tile-assn.com.
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