Swimming + glasses

TheCupcakeCounter

Contacts and goggles here too. I simply keep a spare pair in my gym bag just in case. Been doing this for over 20 years through competitive swim, 10+ years as a lifeguard and swim/water aerobics instructor, and fitness swimming.
Mine are basic Speedo but I also like TYR

jldeange

I am also very blind. I can not even see the lines on the bottom of the pool without some help. For several years I did the contacts with goggles thing, but it would just irritate my eyes too much and I got fed up with that. Went on amazon and bought some cheap prescription goggles. Best decision ever. Yes, I feel like a frog walking around the pool deck with my goggles on, but I love being able to see in the pool even more. Usually keep my glasses in my slides by my towel on the edge of the pool. No problems with that so far.

LKArgh

Prescription goggles, I cannot imagine swimming without them. Mine are just normal speedo goggles, just with correction lenses. As long as you do not want to really fine tune the correction, they come in about 0.5 steps and are cheap, so replacing them every couple of years is not an issue.

stealthq

Honestly, I just went without glasses or contacts and used regular old goggles. It wasn't hard to navigate around the pool and people even severely nearsighted. But, I didn't have a need to read signs of any kind. All I had to do is be able to see people, lane markers, and the side of the pool.

BigAnnieG

stealthq wrote: »

Honestly, I just went without glasses or contacts and used regular old goggles. It wasn't hard to navigate around the pool and people even severely nearsighted. But, I didn't have a need to read signs of any kind. All I had to do is be able to see people, lane markers, and the side of the pool.

I can't even see my own feet let alone other people!!! Haha.

Thanks for the consensus peeps, it's helpful to know I'm not alone here. Will have to look at prescription goggs I reckon, lenses and normal goggles seem to still irritate my eyes.

And I'll definitely experiment with all the de-fog suggestions too! Maybe a little more subtly with the licking option though...

CantonRC

I wear TYR velocity goggles with my contacts. I have been swimming for 20 years and never had any problems.

nutmegoreo

deannalfisher wrote: »

could you do contacts and normal swim goggles?

This is what I do as well.

xLyric

My Rx was over -10, so I hated swimming without them. I would just get a cheap pair (I used Zenni, but I know others have mentioned Amazon) so that I didn't have to worry about getting them wet or bent.

JamieWW

I get it! I'm very nearsighted also. Seeing the line on the bottom of the pool without lenses is laughable. And I have never been able to get a good, comfortable seal on goggles (been told the shape of my face is the reason why). So my contacts float away or fold over. *sigh* I eventually gave up on pool activity, so kudos on sticking with it. My thoughts on a solution are this: 1 - What you've been doing, wearing glasses. I did this too, exactly the same way you're doing. I used an older pair of frames and a rubber sport strap to make sure they stayed on. 2 - leave the glasses in my shoes on the side of the pool, taking a little risk, but if they're plain prescription glasses, someone is unlikely to take them, and learn to swim blind (which I have also done). Finally, 3 - It sounds like there are some great prescription goggles out there. I feel ya on the curvature issue. When your prescription gets bad enough, that happens the bigger the lenses are...even my sunglasses have that issue, despite being the "extra thin" material. I'm THAT nearsighted. ;-) But if I wanted to swim again, I'd probably try it out.
Good luck!

BigAnnieG

Yes! This. ALL OF THIS! When I say I can't see my feet I REALLY mean it! So yeah the lines on the bottom of the pool are a challenge - not to mention seeing (or more accurately, missing) the pool side when getting in/out.

I think I'm going to try prescription goggles one more time... and see how it goes. I couldn't give up swimming, just a total water baby! The idea of not going in the water just upsets me hah.

seemafitnessgal

BigAnnieG wrote: »

I LOVE swimming... but am also ridiculously short sighted. This means I swim with my glasses on, as contacts and chlorine are a bad mix, and prescription goggles are foggy/a pain (either entrust glasses to side of a busy pool for the ol' switcharoo or walk around entire changing area with a curved perspective on the world...!). Does anyone else have this, and what's the best way to deal with it? I swim breaststroke but keep my head above water, though my neck as in line as possible without submerging my head, and manage a good forty minutes before an ache sets in. My pace is pretty quick, thanks to having paddles for feet, but I just wonder if there is a better way to manage semi blindness and swimming. Going without lenses is out of the question as I literally can't see my own feet without them!

You can get prescription glasses which don't get foggy. Yes they are available and I got mine at GogglesNmore . It helps me swim and look at things plus the yellow tint i got for myself helps me with the indoor lighting in the pool. Hope this helps.

acpgee

I haven't read the whole thread so apologies if this has already been said. You can get goggles with standard near sighted corrections from Speedo. Correction from -1.5 to -8.0. I am a -10, but -8 is good enough for snorkelling. The corrections go by 0.5 increments and under correcting is more comfortable than over correcting.

SnifterPug

MissMaggieMuffin wrote: »

MonkeyMel21 wrote: »

I have worn contacts with regular goggles, it was fine, but my eye doctor told me it's not a great idea. I went on amazon and bought a pair of prescription TYR's for $20 and it was one of the best fitness investments I've made. I swim several different strokes so not wearing goggles is impossible.

@MonkeyMel21 Curious about why your eye doctor didn't like that combination?

I was told by my eye doctor that swimming with lenses in is a bad idea, even with goggles, because at some point there is usually some leakage. The issue is that swimming pool water can hang around the eye longer than usual if you have lenses in and that is really not good. There's a risk of some hideous fungus or something. That said, I wear daily disposable lenses. He said if I was prepared to discard the lenses immediately after the swim it was OK to use them for the swim (even without goggles if the swim was not going on for hours) and advised me to rinse eyes with saline or comfort drops immediately after removing the lenses.

kshama2001

I've been wearing prescription dive mask/googles for decades. I prevent fog the way I learned when I learned how to dive - spit in them, rub the spit around, rinse quickly.

If anyone has tried both spit and the anti-fog spray, how do they compare? My dive instructor mentioned the spray, but he was a spitter, and consequently the class was as well.

snowflake954

kshama2001 wrote: »

I've been wearing prescription dive mask/googles for decades. I prevent fog the way I learned when I learned how to dive - spit in them, rub the spit around, rinse quickly.

If anyone has tried both spit and the anti-fog spray, how do they compare? My dive instructor mentioned the spray, but he was a spitter, and consequently the class was as well.

I used to spit, but now use anti-fog spray. I think the spray works better.

rabblescum

I have yet to try prescription goggles as my eyes are two different prescriptions and I have a severe astigmatism. I have cheap zenni glasses and swim in them. I do breast with face above and switch it with backstroke and freestyle moving my head left to right to keep above water. It alleviates the neck strain to switch it up.