Vision in triathlon: The challenges facing swimmers

Triathlon is one of the UK’s fastest growing sports, with currently over 500 registered clubs across the countries. This growth is set to continue following the success of the Brownlee brothers at the 2012 London Olympics.

Triathlon comprises three elements in the following order – swimming, cycling and running, along with the various transitions necessary between them. Events are run over varying distances from the shorter ‘sprint’ distance events to the full ‘Ironman’.

A sport that comprises such differing elements introduces several visual challenges. This series of articles will take a look at the varying visual demands of multi-discipline sport and the inherent difficulties in correcting vision in triathletes.