My first open water race is coming up next month. I've practiced sighting simulations in the pool, but the practice buoy is only at the other side of the pool. I assume the real thing will be much more distant. I do not have access to open water to practice before my race and am worried about whether I will be able to see the buoy. Just how far away is customary? The swim in question is the Oxford-Bellevue Sharkfest, a 1500 m across the Tred-Avon River in Maryland. It is a straight line, not a triangle. Since this is my first such event, my goal is just to finish safely within the 40 minute DQ cut-off.
For Masters practice I have been wearing Speedo Vanquisher -2.00 strength optical goggles in order to read the whiteboard. (I can read the digital clock fine without magnification). I find these goggles uncomfortable after about 500 yards. When not at formal practice, I usually wear Aqua Sphere Lady Kaiman. They fit me great and are much more comfortable, but aren't available as optical goggles. I haven't found any optical goggles that fit like the Aquasphere or are open water style.
So my question is do I wear the comfortable goggles that compromise my vision or the uncomfortable ones that let me see better?
I swam my first race without optical goggles, thinking I'd be able to see the turn buoys well enough because those things tend to be gigantic and bright orange. I could see them, but I couldn't really tell the difference between them and similarly bright orange kayaks containing safety volunteers. I ended up following other swimmers until I was close enough to know for sure which orange blob was my target.
I do use optical goggles now. They don't fit quite as well as the non-opticals I used to wear, and they don't correct my vision as well as actual glasses do. Even so, they make a big difference in seeing where I'm going. But I also learned from that experience that it's much more helpful to use large landmarks on shore as the main things to look for while sighting. Studying a course map before hand can be quite helpful, maybe looking at it on Google Map's satelite view, and also definitely taking some time before getting in the water to get a feel for how buildings, big hills or even particularly distinctive trees line up with key points of the course.
I swam my first race without optical goggles, thinking I'd be able to see the turn buoys well enough because those things tend to be gigantic and bright orange. I could see them, but I couldn't really tell the difference between them and similarly bright orange kayaks containing safety volunteers. I ended up following other swimmers until I was close enough to know for sure which orange blob was my target.
I do use optical goggles now. They don't fit quite as well as the non-opticals I used to wear, and they don't correct my vision as well as actual glasses do. Even so, they make a big difference in seeing where I'm going. But I also learned from that experience that it's much more helpful to use large landmarks on shore as the main things to look for while sighting. Studying a course map before hand can be quite helpful, maybe looking at it on Google Map's satelite view, and also definitely taking some time before getting in the water to get a feel for how buildings, big hills or even particularly distinctive trees line up with key points of the course.
