Prescription swimming goggles for farsightedness

So, I am having trouble seeing both my swim watch and reading my swim sets and, one again, I need to bite the bullet and look at prescription goggles.



A couple of years ago I bought Aqua Sphere Eagles but never got on with them and so kept in the plain lenses. Tonight, I put in the optical lens and my vision is worse. I now know why; the lenses are for near sightedness and I am far sighted. image



Also, as I am blind in one eye, I would prefer the option to have a blank for that lens as the eye cannot tolerate any sort of magnification and it confuses my better eye.



Can anyone recommend any goggles for me? I have googled but I can't see any popular brand names. Has anyone bought off t'interweb and been happy with their choice



I need to get this sorted as I can't continue to take my glasses poolside just to read my watch and know what swim programme I am supposed to be doing image

Comments

  • *lurks with interest as I have the same issues*

  • Not sure its relevant to goggles but if you order glasses on-line the one thing you will need is the macular distance (distance between your pupils) which those crafty optician's never put on your prescription!

    I measured it in the mirror and got away with it, however if you get a friend to do it, it would probably be more accurate and it would be easier to compensate for the parallax error you get doing it yourself.

  • Oddly, a lost of high street opticians use a little handheld device for measuring the IPD Interpupillary distance that is relatively imprecise, and gives you only the nearest mm- is that the tolerance to which they build glasses?

    (Shockingly, the little utility that ships with the Oculus Rift seems to produce reproducibly accurate results that compare favourably to this..)

  • Have you thought about wearing contact(s) under the goggles, and then finding a pair of goggles that seal well instead?

    I know there's risk of infection with contacts and water, but I'd have thought disposables that are removed as soon as the swim session is over should be ok?

  • I wear contact lenses under my goggles, and have not had any issues to date.

  • Luking. Have same problem. Can't tolerate contact lenses. 

  • Can I be contentious and suggest that if you can't remember a set then you're doing too many things in one session? image

    The best sets are simple, and if you're stopping to read instructions regularly then you're sacrificing some of the cardiovascular benefit, too.

  • I go to a masters class where we record strokes and times at different tempos in a waterproof book. Im close to needing glasses at the poolside to even see the tempo setting on my tempo trainer.  Can't see my watch in open water for pacing long swims. I would say that swimming is more interesting than just pushing from one end of the pool and back.

  • I lurk on behalf of my OH who is blind as the proverbial bat........how he didn't get lost on his first OW swim I do not know as he couldn't see any buoys and was too far back to have company!!  He too doesn't tolerate lenses.........

  • I suppose the trouble would be compromised distance vision with a reading lenses. Id need varifocals which I doubt exist at a reasonable price. Think I'll get a bigger watch and a magnifying glass for the poolside!

  • Soup - I am not an optician/optometrist, but in contact lenses you can have one lens for distance and one lens for close-up and your eyes automatically decide which lens it needs to look through.  Might be worth seeing if there is something similar for swimming goggles?

  • Your optician doesn't have to put your PD measurement on the prescription. It's not being crafty, it's just not part of the prescription. why don't you go to an optician and ask them. Online glasses/goggles are a gamble and the stronger the prescription the less likely it is to be right. 

  • TE  - i have the problem that I can't read much of what is on my garmin (I can *just* about read what's at arms length, but its a struggle) so often have no idea of my pacing image    I can see distance fine, and in theory have no problems with sighting (ahem) so not sure if getting prescription goggles present their own problems  - maybe I should strap a magnifying glass onto my watch ?image

     

    PS - I can't do contacts either, as putting anything in my eyes gives me the heebie-jeebies image

  • iron fraggle wrote (see)

    TE  - i have the problem that I can't read much of what is on my garmin (I can *just* about read what's at arms length, but its a 

    If you don't know whether you're swimming too hard without looking at your garmin, glasses won't solve the root cause of your problem. 

  • A bit harsh TE!  You could say the same for running. I don't use a Garmin but once wished I had one when swimming against a current. And instant feedback is a good learning aid when trying different tempo sets or stroke mechanics. Just saying....

  • I now use contacts but when I was reliant on goggles with lenses I spoke to the optician.  They will really have a better idea of what is available and what suits your prescription.  In the same way that some glasses work with one prescription and others don't the same is true of goggles.

    Once you have that opinion you could then look elsewhere to get a better price.

  • Soup Dragon wrote (see)

    A bit harsh TE!  You could say the same for running. I don't use a Garmin but once wished I had one when swimming against a current. And instant feedback is a good learning aid when trying different tempo sets or stroke mechanics. Just saying....

    I don't think it was harsh.

    If you're swimming without a watch you need to know what to do. If you're swimming against a current then a GPS will be meaningless (and it often is anyway when swimming, accuracy can be very poor), it'll only tell you that speed is slow for high perceived exertion. Which you knew because there was a current. 

    My best runs have come on tough courses when I've totally disregarded any "pace" feedback from a watch. And I'm probably the biggest data geek around. The body knows when to back off and when to push harder - chasing a running pace up and down gentle grades will blow you up far more quickly than just doing what feels consistent.

    The caveat is...you have to train for it. Go out and get used to holding that pace, whatever it is. Applies for swimming, biking and running. It's not complicated!

  • Schmunks: Can you see a pool clock?

    1. Work out your pace per 100m. (Do 10x100m off 10 seconds rest, then work out your average pace across the swimming portions. You only need a stopwatch for this, you can use the pool clock for rest intervals)
    2. Get used to knowing that if you swim 100m and come in +5 seconds, you're swimming a bit below threshold.
    3. Create swim sets.

    An example might be you warm up with 400m. 10x50m drill out, swim back (assuming you're in a 25m pool). Main set of 400, 300, 200, 100 at threshold plus 5,4,3,2 with rest to the top of the next minute or whatever is appropriate*. Cool down. 

    Keep it simple enough to remember, do one or two key drills per session and read and remember what you're focusing on for that drill. The danger flicking through a dozen drills in a session is you never get enough time or mental capacity to really think about what you're doing. Work on body rotation one day, breathing another, catch another, etc. Swim often enough and they come together on their own. 

     

    *I know this looks complicated but for example: I swim at 1:25/100m, so 100m at 'pace plus 5 seconds' will take me from "top of the clock" to 30 seconds.

    If I'm doing 400m, that's 4 of them... leave on "red top", 100m split will be at "red 30" (which is usually black top). If I'm ahead of pace, I might see red 27 when I turn. I know to back off a bit. If I see 32, I give myself a leather suppository. By the next 100m, I will be looking for "red top" again. 

    Yes, other numbers are less convenient, but even if one swims at, say, 2:01/100m and you're swimming as threshold +3 seconds, you know you'll come in at (1+3=4) 4 past, 8 past, 12 past, 16 past. You can rest until the next hand is at the top and repeat.

  • TE - simple answer re the clock, 'no, I can't', hence the reason to start the thread.image

    With all due respect, I have a swim coach who I am confident in who writes the sets for me, knowing the person I am, where I am now and where I want to be and for when. I owe him the respect to follow his instruction and have faith in what he tells me to do.  It's not that his swim sets are complicated, it's just that I like to do the sets exactly as I am told and I want to be able to read my swim set and have the reassurance I am following it to the letter.  

    It's how I am; it may not be 'right' , it may not be how others would do things, but it's how I like to operate image

  • Update for those who said they were lurking as they were in the same boat - I found this website (www.goggleyed.co.uk) who do prescription lenses for far sighted vision.  I ordered them on Saturday and they arrived yesterday. So far so good.

    i tried reading my swim set with them on and, although readable, the text was still a little blurry.  It was better than no prescription lenses at all, but not the clarity I was expecting so I dropped the Company a line

    For a varifocal prescription, they automatically make lenses for distance vision as most swimmers want to see family, signs and the clock.  This is what they have done for me.  Now I have explained that I need to read swim sets and see my Swim Watch, they are making me a pair of goggles for near vision at no further cost and they said I could keep the pair I have rather than put me to the expense of returning them.

    So, despite the inital issue of the lenses being for distance vision, the Company is being more than amenable is resolving the issue and making sure I get what I need.  Excellent customer service image

  • They sound like sensible people- and might just have earned some good word of mouth image

  • A further update - I sent them a copy of my prescription first thing yesterday morning and within 5 mins I had received an email explaining how they work out the diopter for near vision and, to cut a long story short, I am a +3. I said that I would use the distance ones for OW (+1 lenses) so that he knew they wouldn't be wasted

    I got home from work today to find the near vision goggles have arrived.  Not only that but they have included spare near and distance lenses as spares to 'apologise for the inconvenience'.  Considering the mistake was all mine, I think they have gone above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction.

    But the important bit image.  Do they work? Absolutely yes. imageimage.  I can read my swim set, Garmin watch, and the forum in them.  If I lose my glasses at least I have a solution now image

    i would definitely recommend Goggleyed.co.uk both for their products and their customer service

  • Good work schmunks. Thanks

  • That sounds like a company that really understand their customers. How comfortable are they? The fit round the eyes is always the troublesome bit.

Sign In or Register to comment.