Swimming has been my favorite sport which I practice since I was a young kid and it’s the sport which I practice most regularly. Even as I get older and find other sports like soccer or tennis seem to be getting harder on my frame, I am still able to swim as agile and flexible as I was many years ago. It’s the sport where I feel more refreshed and feeling better when I am done.
Here’s how I made my swimming sessions more enjoyable and fun using these accessories:
- Prescription Goggles. I wear glasses and do not use contact lenses so I have two choices when swimming; swim without glasses and not see very well or wear them which is awkward while swimming. Both ways aren’t very practical, specially when playing ball in the pool when I was concerned my glasses would get knocked off. I decided to get a pair of prescription goggles. I got one from www.aquagoggles.com. On their site you enter your prescription and select a pair and they’ll send you your custom goggles. Great price and great fit.
- Anti fog spray. The goggles were great except they would fog up frequently and I had to clear them with water. It was becoming annoying. aquagoggles.com sells a spray which is a lot cheaper than the brand I got from Amazon. The one I got worked great. A single spray works for one swim session and the goggles were very clear the whole time.
- Waterproof audio player. So sometimes it gets boring and lonely when doing laps for a long time. I sometimes swim at 10 at night. I decided to get yet another gadget, a waterproof audio player, and listen to music or podcasts while swimming. They can be used for audio books too. It helps in making time go by faster. I used two different brands of regular ear buds type waterproof players which I got from Amazon and they failed pretty quickly. I decided to get one more player and if it fails, I would conclude that these players are not meant to be used in water. The third time I decided to get a high end one. The FINIS Neptune player intrigued me because it uses bone conduction audio transmission. I was surprised that it worked very well. You have to use goggles because they have to be clipped on the goggles strap for support. You also need to use earplugs because the noise from your surrounding will overwhelm the sound conducted through your temples, unless you put the side speakers right on top of the ears. They might be a bit bulky but they weren’t heavy. It lacked a fast forward feature which I wanted. I pinged FINIS and told they need to add this feature.
- Ear plugs. These are needed for the Neptune player to make the audio clearer. Without them, the regular audio from outside through your ear will compete uncomfortably with the audio from the player through the bone conduction. It makes a huge difference. I use the silicone putty from Mack’s which I got from my local Walgreens. I don’t recommend the sponge ear plugs. I don’t believe they work well in water. The ear plugs help too in alleviating water pressure when swimming under water. My ears are pretty sensitive to water pressure.
- Nose clip. You might need a nose clip if you do certain under-water maneuvers which make water go into your nose.
Enjoy your swim.
