? for those who wear contacts

Just wear goggles. I've never had a problem. I am blind as a bat and could not race without them.

I leave them in while I am swimming.  I also like to leave a spare pair of contacts in transition in case I lose one of them.  So far, I've never lost one in a race, but I figure if I forget the extra contacts that's when I'll need them.

As far as wearing them while swimming, make sure you clean them well afterwards.  You can get some nasty bacteria from the water.

I do everything, every day in my contacts. I literally could not see if I didn't wear them. And that would be bad.

As for swimming in them, I've only had one problem, ever. It was during a high school swim meet - starting blocks - dove in - goggles fell off - contact slipped out of my eye. But just for pool swims and OW swims... I've never had any issues. Just make sure your goggles fit and don't slip off of your face.

A lot of people will bring an extra pair to the race and keep them in transition just in case something freaky happens during the swim.

x2

I swim with my contacts in.  Needed to make sure that I got goggles that fit me well because even a little leakage was kind of annoying with the contacts.  I have a pretty strong prescription so I would not feel comfortable swiming (or doing anything else) without my contacts.  The alternative for me would be prescription goggles and sun glasses but I don't really want to go there.

I have not done a race yet (first outdoor tri in June) so I can't help you there but I am concerned with a big group start and getting my goggles kicked off or something.  I plan to have a spare set of contacts with my (I wear disposable) in case I need them in transition (although that will really hurt my T1 time in a sprint distance!).

Good luck.

Same for me as everybody else, never a problem swimming with goggles that fit properly and don't leak.  I also have spares readily available in my transition area just in case.

In most cases, I don't even think about the fact I am wearing them because I have been wearing them for 25 years.

Greg

I've gotten whacked in the face a couple of times and never had my goggles come off.

x3

For races, I keep another set of contacts in transition.  If I lose one while I'm swimming, my race would be over. It certainly wouldn't be safe for me, or other racers, to go out on the bike!

I wear mine too.  I also agree with the spare pair. My goggles leaked during my swim warm-up for my first sprint and I lost one.  Spent the whole time with one of my eyes closed on the ride and the run so I could see!  Now I keep several in my transition bag.

I do take mine out and replace them after swimming in particulary gross water.   Sometimes a little leaks into my eyes and I am not taking a chance on an infection.

Another option if your perscription isn't very strong is the corrective/optical goggles. They're pretty cheap, for instance these are only $9.95. They will not be your exact perscription, but you can get pretty close for 10 bucks if you don't want to mess with your contacts.

A friend of mine only wears glasses, and bought some of the optical goggles for triathlons. His perscription is more than "just a little," so he had to wear his goggles down to the starting beach to see where he was going. Kinda funny looking (he's on the left in that pic), but it worked for him.

Are you talking about a tri swim here or do you live in a really rough neighborhood? :-)

x4 (plus the extras in transition).  as a contact lens newbie, bring a small mirror since it takes a few years of practice to put them on w/o looking in a mirror. 

I really need to start wearing my contacts for swims. I wear my glasses most of the time (staring at a computer screen all day in contacts hurts my eyes.) but once I get into OWS I will not be able to see anything for sighting  with how bad my vision is. Heck I wear a watch in the pool because I can't see the gigantic wall clock.

Good tips in here it sounds like so far.

I'm one of the few who wears contacts during the day, but never while cycling or swimming.  I have prescription sunglasses and prescription goggles (they only cost about $20) for these activities.

I seem to be one of the few people left who still wear gas permeable (hard) contact lenses.  They're not as comfortable as soft lenses, but you don't have to touch your eyeball to take them out 

Brian 

You'll want to speak to your eye dr about this but I spent 3 months last year with a persistent eye infection that went away once I switched brands.  We can only guess it was the material that triggered a reaction (the same style I've worn for a couple years too?), but we went through a whole mess of trying this and that and one thing she mentioned was some people who swim with contacts can trap any of the bacteria & chemicals and crap that is in pools - even with goggles.  She had me switch from my regular Replish solution to Clear Care for days when I swim.  Clear Care is a hydrogen peroxide based cleaner that is supposed to kill about anything on your contacts.  I liked it so much I use it every day.  The only catch is that once you put your contacts in you can't wear them for 6 hours (or till the bubbles go away) for fear of risking peroxide burns in your eyes. OW!

Use what was suggested but if you notice your contacts feel icky after swimming, ask about a different cleaner.

Thanks for all the input everyone! Guess I'll just have to give it a try and see how it goes.

Great suggestions, I'll definitely keep that one in mind!   

My mom still wears the gas perm ones.  Her astigmatism is bad enough that she's had a hard time getting soft contacts to work out.

For what it's worth, I don't touch my eyes when I take my contacts out anymore either.