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?
Optical goggles have made all the difference for me. I don't think I'd be an open-water swimmer without the confidence that being able to see things at a distance has given me. I use the Speedo Vanquisher opticals, and I guess I'm lucky that they fit me comfortably and without leaking. I even wear them in the pool now too.
One tip: I don't know about other models, but with the Speedos you can mix and match lenses from different sets. My eyes need substantially different corrections, so I bought a -2.00 pair and a -5.00 pair, disassembled them, and put them back together as two pairs of goggles, each with -2 on one side and -5 on the other. The disassembly/reassembly took 5-10 minutes. It's not hard. And I can see *so* much better with both eyes corrected.
Dylan.
Optical goggles have made all the difference for me. I don't think I'd be an open-water swimmer without the confidence that being able to see things at a distance has given me. I use the Speedo Vanquisher opticals, and I guess I'm lucky that they fit me comfortably and without leaking. I even wear them in the pool now too.
One tip: I don't know about other models, but with the Speedos you can mix and match lenses from different sets. My eyes need substantially different corrections, so I bought a -2.00 pair and a -5.00 pair, disassembled them, and put them back together as two pairs of goggles, each with -2 on one side and -5 on the other. The disassembly/reassembly took 5-10 minutes. It's not hard. And I can see *so* much better with both eyes corrected.
Dylan.
