Too many athletes take their vision for granted.  Do you wear sports sunglasses to look cool or for protection? Are your sunglasses functional i.e. do they do the job you want them to do? 

Specific brands make sunglasses that are specifically for multisports athletes, with lightweight frame materials and lens colours for every lighting condition. If you are training or racing on a super bright sunny day you don't want to be using a yellow tinted lens. These are for low contrast conditions and brighten things up. What you need is a dark lens colour like grey or brown that will give you glare reduction so it's comfortable to see without squinting. When it's twilight or slightly overcast you want an orange, red or cinnamon colour to increase your contrast. These help highlight what you see. Frames with interchangeable lenses are perfect for this. Adidas, Bolle and Oakley have this facility and it's great. Multiple lenses for different situations.

You want frames that give you good peripheral vision, a good frame fit is crucial. Lenses that are too close to your eyes will fog up and frames too loose will just fall off. You can get frames with air vents to prevent fogging like the Oakley Water & Racing Jacket and Bolle Boom slang.

When you're cycling you wear a helmet to protect your skull and brain but what about sunglasses to stop a flicked up stone hitting your eye and blinding it permanently. Protection and safety are the keys. A lot of sunglasses now come with polycarbonate lenses that are virtually bullet proof; these are the strongest lenses on the market. The next safest material is plastic then lastly glass as this has a low impact resistance and can shatter pretty easily. UV protection is a must for our ozone-depleted atmosphere. Go for maximum UV block, as you want to prevent sunburn and possible cataracts in the future.

If you haven't got 6/6 vision; the metric version of 20/20, then you've got options to help you see clearly. For the swim leg you can get prescription swimming goggles. Land pursuits can be catered for by prescription sunglasses with nearly any colour lens tint, you can also get prescription polarised lenses which cut out extra glare and are great on the water. Bolle and Adidas have an optical insert system that allows you to put your prescription into it and be inserted behind the sunglass lenses. A handy little feature. Oakley have their RX range where you can get those cool Iridium mirror coatings in your prescription into one of their frames like the classic M frame.

Contact lenses are the best option for any athlete who needs help to see. They give you peripheral vision and make things look the right size. Then you can wear normal sunglasses over your contacts and see. If you are long or short sighted or have astigmatism there is a contact lens out there for you. You can get a contact lens now to fit nearly every type of eye. There are now even disposable contact lenses that you wear for 30 days continuously. Yeah, you can sleep in them for up to 30 nights, fantastic for Coast-to-Coast type events.

All these options are available from your local optometrist who will be able to provide for all your visual needs. Choose the right eyewear and it will make you see better, give you protection and you might even look cool at the same time.

Contact Jeremy Wong for your Sports Specific Eyewear consultation today

Copyright Dec 2001