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Prescription swimming goggles changed my sporting life!

Prescription goggles On one embarrassing occasion I got out of the swimming pool and walked into the male changing rooms. On several other occasions I was accused of being unfriendly when I spent an hour swimming up and down the pool without noticing friends who were also in the pool. And, painfully, I banged my hands and head into various objects, including the lane ropes and other people. All this happened before I discovered prescription lenses for swimming goggles. You see – well, I don’t see so well – I am very short sighted. Without glasses I find it difficult to read signs, see people even a few metres away and I will frequently bump into things. I could wear contact lenses and “normal” goggles over the top but I’m not a big fan of contact lenses and I’m always afraid they will slip out while swimming. Because I do not often wear contact lenses regularly, I also find they are a hassle before and after sports when I spend ages putting them in and taking them out. So goggles with prescriptions lenses have been an amazing find. Surprisingly, they are not much pricier than normal goggles. I guess, if you go to the lengths of having the lenses made specific to your prescription, then bespoke prescription goggles will cost a great deal but most swimmers simply wear prescription goggles with optical lenses that are close to their own prescription. So I’m a -6.5 and I wear -6s. I could wear -5s or 5.5s I expect because in a pool you don’t need to see as clearly as if you were driving a car or going about your daily life. The prescription should be enough to allow you a fairly clear view of where you are swimming, where other people are, where the ropes are and, very importantly, where the female changing room signs points to. (Or male if you are a guy!). I would go so far as to say the prescription goggles changed my sporting life. I wasn’t a keen swimmer because of all the reasons outlined in the first paragraph. I always felt lost and disorientated wearing non-prescription goggles with poor eye sight. Then, I suddenly found that by wearing the prescription goggles I could function pretty much on the same level as people with excellent vision. There is still a moment of difficultly when going from the poolside to the pool but I have got this down to a fine art these days. I wear my normal glasses on to the poolside. I find a safe place to leave the glasses and then put on my goggles to get me to the edge of the pool and into the water. I might look a bit silly wearing the goggles on poolside but I don’t really care so long as I feel safe and can see where I’m going. I reverse the operation when getting out of the pool. As the years have gone by the look and sophistication of goggles with prescription lenses has improved. I doubt you would know that I was wearing prescription goggles if you saw me in the pool. While some goggles come with fixed lenses others have the flexibility of removable prescription lenses. This would allow wearers to use them with, or without, contact lenses. So, if your sight is holding you back from swimming give the prescription swimming goggles a go.
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