Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 2: Train at Home
• Part 2 of 2: Open Your Eyes When You Swim
• Tips
• Warnings

Swimming goggles are not always comfortable, and if they let water pass, they are practically useless for the average swimmer. If you open your eyes underwater, it may irritate the mucous membrane of the eyes or nose. At the same time, it is often necessary to open your eyes. By adapting to underwater conditions and optical distortion, you can spend as much time underwater as you need. The first step is to learn how to open the eyes of the waters with water.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Train at Home

1. 1 Go to the bathroom and fill the sink with a stopper. For starters, it is best to exercise gently with tap water rather than treated pool water or fresh or salt water. You need to draw enough water into the sink to immerse your face at least halfway into it. The temperature should be moderate so as not to freeze and not burn the skin.
2. 2 Immerse your face in water with your eyes closed. Try to get used to the temperature of the water. It's also important to stay calm.If you feel any irritation in your nose, it is best to stop, as your eyes are even more sensitive to chlorine or to the byproducts of other halogen-based products that are used to purify water.
3. 3 Submerge yourself in the tub. Practice keeping your eyes open underwater until you run out of air. The water temperature should be moderately cool, like in the pool or in the sink in the previous step. Exercise until you completely stop paying attention to irritation with your eyes open.

Part 2 of 2: Open Your Eyes When You Swim

1. 1 Find a pool with minimally treated water. Swim in a pool filled with chlorine-free water or fresh water. Chlorine itself does not irritate the eyes or damage the cornea, but it does add to the effects of byproducts in pool care products. Avoid large pools as they almost always use sodium hypochlorite or elemental chlorine to maintain proper water quality.
2. 2 Dive under the water and open your eyes. Fresh water is practically non-irritating, while treated and salt water almost always contains irritants. Despite the possibility of eye and corneal irritation, short training sessions will not affect visual acuity.
3. 3 Build up the duration. Increase the time by taking into account irritation and fatigue. Keep your eyes open as long as there is enough air in your lungs. Focus on building up duration and staying focused underwater. If you are not very good at swimming, stay away from deep and dangerous areas.
4. 4 Practice keeping your eyes open and looking underwater. In a treated water pool or in salt water, it is best to split this workout into multiple sessions to reduce the risk of irritation, but soon you will be much more comfortable. Train in multiple ponds with different waters to adapt to different visibility and color. Avoid swimming in unsanitary conditions and in stagnant water, as small lakes and ponds are at high risk of infection.
   • To accurately analyze visual information underwater, additional training is required. Learn to determine the distance to objects at a known depth or distance from you, as well as the time it takes to get to such an object.
   • If you are diving, do not dive deep without a diving suit. Pressure changes during ascent can rupture capillaries and damage hearing. Learn to equalize the pressure during the dive.

Tips

• If you exercise in your own pool, buy chlorine-free or low-content cleansers to reduce the risk of irritation and corneal damage.
• Swimming goggles are always recommended in treated and salt water to minimize the risk of eye irritation and corneal damage. The chlorine-containing pool care products themselves do not impair sight for swimmers, but the by-products of the cleaning products affect pH and osmolarity, which can irritate the mucous membranes and cornea.

Warnings

• Do not swim or open your eyes in bodies of stagnant or untreated water. The risk of mucosal infection in the water is too high.
• Avoid swimming in pools of chlorinated water, especially if you have breathing problems, as background levels of chlorine gas are often cited as the leading cause of breathing problems in swimmers.