My teammates and I were discussing the following apparently inane topic, and I thought it would make a good poll question. To wit, during practices, which of the following apply to you:
1) I swim with my eyes open pretty much all the time, except for regular blinks.
2) I close my eyes when my head is underwater, but open them during breaths.
3) I close my eyes during breaths, but open them when my head is under water to make sure I am not wandering off track.
4) I close my eyes much of the time on each length, and try to remember to open them before crashing into the wall.
Note: just realized I don't exactly know how to format this as a poll. If anyone else does, please feel free to do so--or send me a note about how to do it myself.
BTW, I often swim with my eyes shut; not quite sure why, other than swimming practice seems to induce a mild level of narcolepsy in me. Or perhaps it is a reflex action from the pre-goggle days when closing your eyes during practice was necessary to keep your corneas from being eroded by chlorine.
Tom and Jim, you guys are making me realize how eccentric I must be. Maybe I should cut back on the drinking a little. I find I just get so sleepy during workouts, I can't keep my eyes open continuously. Interestingly, when we do backstroke, I have no trouble keeping my eyes open. But freestyle just lulls me...
So far it looks like only two other swimming somnambulists share this peculiarity. Jim and Tom make interesting points for the majority "open eyes" philosophy.
Jim, you no doubt live in the land of the callypgean swimming nymphs, probably wearing the latest in California skin tight female swimming apparel; Tom, you, being from Texas, no doubt live in the land of the interesting pool tile. Our pool here near Pittsburgh, on the other hand, tends to have A) not that many nymphets, at least during masters practice (the ones on our team go too fast to see anyhow) and B) more discarded bandaids and hairballs on the bottom than interesting tiles to gander at.
Maybe that's the answer: swim in our pool, and perhaps you'd close your eyes too.
Tom and Jim, you guys are making me realize how eccentric I must be. Maybe I should cut back on the drinking a little. I find I just get so sleepy during workouts, I can't keep my eyes open continuously. Interestingly, when we do backstroke, I have no trouble keeping my eyes open. But freestyle just lulls me...
So far it looks like only two other swimming somnambulists share this peculiarity. Jim and Tom make interesting points for the majority "open eyes" philosophy.
Jim, you no doubt live in the land of the callypgean swimming nymphs, probably wearing the latest in California skin tight female swimming apparel; Tom, you, being from Texas, no doubt live in the land of the interesting pool tile. Our pool here near Pittsburgh, on the other hand, tends to have A) not that many nymphets, at least during masters practice (the ones on our team go too fast to see anyhow) and B) more discarded bandaids and hairballs on the bottom than interesting tiles to gander at.
Maybe that's the answer: swim in our pool, and perhaps you'd close your eyes too.