Contacts during a Tri

[alpinerabbit]

How else could I survive swimming, blind as a bat?

Never have been cautioned against it, a friend even windsurfed and never lost one.

[Grog]

I wear mine all the time without a second thought (although for my two tris I had my glasses in my transition area just in case, 'cause I'm really half blind!).

I was kicked in the face during my first tri and lost my goggles. I don't recall contact problems though.

[kelownagirl]

Thanks for the responses, ladies. I thought he was being a bit overly-cautious although MAYBE it has something to do with the continued healing of my eyes. I don't need my contacts when I swim but I will wear them on race day so I can see when I ride.

And ok, your stories about being kicked etc are freaking me out. I'm going to have my own nice clear piece of smooth water when I swim aren't I?

[alpinerabbit]

You know, I see the point about recovery from laser surgery.

If you do not need them for the swim, why not get the type of Sunglasses with the correction inserts. They are popular so seem to work well. Even whatshisface, Bobby Julich rides with them. Pricey though.

[Trigress]

I wear contacts in triathlons. My goggles leak, but I'm not too bothered. However, if this is part of the healing process after eye surgery I think I'd listen to the doctor... And you are most certainly going to meet a foot or an arm out there, I've never not been kicked or hit, but fortunately I've never had the goggles kicked in my eyes, the nearest has been my chin. It's waiting to happen though!

[ginny]

I wear contacts when I swim. I was also going to get laser surgery before my tri, and the whole healing thing got me thinking that I should probably wait until after the race... thanks for bringing this up

[RoadBunner]

Okay, I'm going to chime in here (puts on optometrist hat)...

You should NOT swim in contact lenses. My recommendation would be for someone who does a lot of swimming to get prescription goggles. Okay, I know that isn't always practical (especially for tris when you need to bike/run after) so if you HAVE to wear your contacts I'd get some daily disposables that you can chuck immediately after the event. Also, be sure to wear goggles to minimize the contact with the water.

Water (especially fresh water, hot tubs, pools) has a lot of nasty bugs in it that can get into your contacts and cause really, really bad eye infections. I emphasize the REALLY BAD part of that statement.

Kelownagirl, if you'd just had PRK and the front of your cornea hasn't fully healed yet, you might have little abrasions on your cornea which are portals of entry for these bugs. I'd call your eye doc up and be honest that you have this event and would like to wear CL's during the swim. See what he says. Maybe your eyes are healed enough that he'd reluctantly agree for a one time deal (get a pair of daily disposables). Maybe your eyes aren't healed enough and he's the one who would know.