Everybody has dealt with the sun completely blinding them while swimming outside. There’s no way around it. You can’t swim outdoors and expect the sun to not peak through every now again, so what can you do to help? Here’s 3 quick tips to help you swim FASTER in the sun:
1.) Wear Mirrored Goggles
By choosing a pair of mirrored goggles, you’ve essentially put on a pair of sunglasses while swimming. This will let you be able to see on the super sunny days and/or even the cloudy ones — that still let some UV rays through.
I actually always trained with mirrored goggles even in doors. I liked the lower light setting and it just became normal for me to not have to switch between summer and winter practices!
My favorite mirrored goggles are Fuse X goggles from A3 Performance. I’ve found them to be super light-weight and versatile. Plus, you can get them mirrored and even non-mirrored for those winter months as well. Check them out here, and use code: SwimLikeA.Fish for 25% OFF! I see they are actually selling for only $10 currently — so go grab you a pair!
2.) Move Your Eyes!
Most swimmers will swim with their heads up too high, and when you tell them to drop it down — they will drop their head down and complain of not being able to see. I always find this response quite comical as our heads and eyes are not dependent on each other — you can move them both independently.
So yes — when you move your head down to swim in better body alignment, your eyes will naturally go down too. But, you can change where your eyes are looking WHILE keeping your head the same. This technique comes in super handy when you’re outside and the sun is directly above you.
If you look straight up and the sun is all you see, keep your head where it is but move your eyes to the side to AVOID looking directly at it!
FREE Technique Analysis:
3.) Work Your Stroke Counts
The sun can actually be a great initiator of making swimmers become more acquainted with their stroke counts. If you know your counts (well) per lap and into/out of walls — you won’t have as much issue without being able to see well. If you don’t know your counts, you will STRUGGLE during this time.
With that being said, USE THIS TIME wisely. Work on knowing your stroke counts into your turns and finishes + your counts per lap. That way if for some reason you look directly up at the sun and are about to finish a lap — you can rely on your count to finish it out well, versus panicking and/or hitting the wall optimally.
HammerHead Swim Caps were created exactly for this scenario. We’ve all been and/or seen in summer league swimming the kid who hits the back of their head on the wall as they were finishing. News Flash: Gutters Hurt, and your head is very tender. What the HammerHead Swim Cap does is provide a protective barrier to the swimmer with a cushion on the top of the cap to help minimize the impact of head into the wall.
Obviously, we don’t want swimmers hitting their heads on the wall — but sometimes it just happens. If you’d to avoid a gnarly bump on your head, check out their site and use code: SwimLikeA.Fish10 for 10% OFF your purchase.
Until Next Time,
Abbie Fish
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