Swimming for the shortsighted

Eve | 11:48 Sat 12th May 2012 | Body & Soul

29 Answers

A bit random haha but I'm hoping to try and get myself some gentle exercise to help with arthritis/fibromyalgia and can't do a lot of the stuff I used to enjoy, step, dance etc... so figured swimming would be good to help get my energy levels up.

My worry at the moment (apart from emergency calls made to Greenpeace when I appear in a swimming costume!) is being really shortsighted. I obviously can't wear my glasses for swimming. I wore contacts for a long time but haven't been able to wear them the last couple of years as my eyes are very dry and my tears evaporate almost immediately.

I used to wear contacts for swimming before, years ago when I went to the gym a lot, and not sure I like the idea of going in not being able to see without my glasses.

It won't be anything too energetic, not a great swimmer as don't like my face in the water and have a cockeyed kick so swim at an angle on a slow gentle breast stroke but when I used to go I could keep going for a while. Never been able to master front crawl, technique or stamina wise (tried to do it for my Bronze Medallion lifesaving exam on a timed rescue swim and had to be rescued by my own casualty and a lifeguard when I had a bad asthma attack mid rescue!).

Has anyone found a good solution?

What have I got?

Eeekk My tooth just cracked in half.

Answers

1 to 20 of 29

1 2 Next Last

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by Eve. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.

hc4361

Prescription goggles.

boxtops

Jenna, I always wear my glasses on the occasions when I swim - I am pretty shortsighted and I am really uncomfortable in the water without them. If you don't put your face in the water, just keep your glasses on - it's fine.

Mosaic

Good lord you're describing Me! Are you me and have lost my memory...how weird is this. Me, blind as a bat, contact lenses dry out in seconds, need to swim and worry about all sorts of 'what if's'.....
I now take my specs with me into the pool and leave them IN A CASE with my big towel on one of the side benches. IN A CASE so that if some daft beggar sits on your towel they don't get broken. Then I paddle up and down like a breathelss turtle, apologising as blobs turn into people, then on getting out head straight for the specs and wrap the towel around my whalebody.
We can do this thing Jenna!

MarkRae

http://www.specsavers...n-swimming-goggles-2/

daffy654

My other half always complains about being unable to see when he goes swimming, I'm sure he is unaware that prescription goggles exist so he will be quite pleased when I tell him :)

ChuckFickens

I'm very short sighted plus an ex county level swimmer and to be honest, I don't see what the problem is. does it really matter that you can't see clearly while swimming?

Just take the glasses off and accept that you won't be able to ogle the fit people in swimming costumes.

boxtops

..but why don't you just wear them, if you are not planning any particularly athletic swimming, like I do?

Eve

Question Author

Thanks all and for the link MarkRae, will pop into Specsavers and enquire.

I might try with my glasses on initially, see how it goes, take my glasses case in so I can try without if not, hate the thought of not being able to see.

Hahaha, that made me laugh Mosaic! :) I think I'll start gentle and try and convince myself noone will notice the arthritis trog like swollen bits and scars from abscesses. Do you think they'd let me in in camofage gear? ;) Maybe I could stick a sign on my forehead, something like "I can't see, if you can read this, you might want to pick up the pace"...or maybe just "oops, sorry!" haha!

We can do it!!!!

Eve

Question Author

Ahhh but Chuck, isn't that part of the fun? ;)

Oooh maybe I could get one of those parking sensors but beeps when you are about to hit something!!! :)

ChuckFickens

I tried wearing my specs a couple of times while swimming, I stopped doing it after I had to rescue them from the bottom of the pool and straighten them out because I forgot I had them on and dived of the 5M board...

tonyav

LOL @ Chuck.

wolf63

I am only short sighted in one eye, the other is long sighted. Alas I can't swim, and can't seem to float for long on my back - 46GG boobs are not as good buoyancy aids as you would think.

Eve

Question Author

It will definitely be nothing too energetic :) Never been much of a swimmer despite being sent to swimming lessons in the summer by my parents. I got enough to be able to do the minimum length safely for being able to do canoeing/kayaking in a river etc... in my more active days.

Oops Chuck! I'm not keen on diving. I can dive but I hate being so far underwater and the coming back up bit. I made big steps on the bronze medallion course (I thought I was only signing up for a first aid course!) and a lifeguard helped me get used to getting my face in the water and by the end I could dive down to get a brick. I got someone to teach me front crawl again and practiced for hours but no, it was more asthmatic flailing than swimming, I am a lost cause!

I always wanted to be able to do butterfly as it looks so cool but I don't think that's ever going to happen :)

Eve

Question Author

My natural bouyency aids are pretty ineffective too Wolf!

tonyav

Jenna, the butterfly stroke needs more energy than any other stroke.

mrs_overall

Before I had my eyes "done" 16 years ago, I was so short sighted I could only see about 2ft in front of me. I never found swimming a problem. I knew I had swum a length when I hit the pool wall.

ChuckFickens

Butterfly is a really tricky stroke to master, it's also really hard work and pretty inefficient as strokes go, would build your shoulders up well though :)

I've made the mistake of mentioning at work I used to be a competitive swimmer, now they want me to do the swimming leg of a team triathlon for charity next year :-0

tonyav

Aren't those buoyancy aids called Mae Wests ?.