A revolutionary game changer in sport?

Night lenses | A revolutionary game changer in sport in New Zealand?

THE BIG QUESTION: Why on earth would someone with short-sightedness worse than -5.00D, who’s competing at the top level in sports, bother with glasses or daytime contact lenses when they could simply ditch both and gain complete freedom with night lenses?

If the answer is “There’s absolutely no logical reason,” and it’s crystal clear that using night lenses enhances performance at the highest level, then maybe night lenses are a real game-changer in sports?

So, what exactly are these night lenses? Well, they’re personalized contact lenses that you pop in before hitting the hay. While you catch some Z’s, they gently correct your vision using a process known as Orthokeratology (or ‘Ortho-K lenses’ for short). When you take ’em out in the morning, your vision is spot on, meaning no more need for glasses or daytime lenses. The effect naturally fades after 24 hours, so you repeat the process as part of your daily routine, just like you would with regular daytime lenses. These nifty lenses have been around for roughly two decades, but recent advancements and more optometrists fitting them in the UK have turned them into the hot new eyecare innovation everyone’s buzzing about.

So, are night lenses truly a revolutionary game-changer in sports?
We had a chinwag with a couple of folks who use them:

Catriona Morrison, a night lens user, boasts multiple world championships in Duathlon, a bronze medal in long-distance Triathlon at the World’s, and an Ironman championship win…

“Catriona, is there a link between using night lenses and success in sport?”

“Definitely. In any sport where you break a sweat, there’s a fair bit of face-rubbing and eye-rubbing going on. If you’re a contact lens wearer, there’s always that risk of the lens shifting and causing trouble. Sports glasses can get sweaty and fog up, making you think about them too. To deliver a top-notch performance, you’ve got to cover all your bases. Imagine dealing with the worry of goggles coming off during a swim or losing a lens during a race – it’d be a whole different ballgame. Now, all I do is pop in one lens and take one out. Done and dusted. Nothing in my eyes for the rest of the day and the race. Why wouldn’t you want to control the uncontrollable? In a race, there are so many uncontrollable factors – why not control this one?”

“What’s the impact of night lenses on your sporting life?”

“It’s been a game-changer. All the hassle vanished. You don’t realize how valuable it is to have normal vision until you experience it! I wake up in the morning and have zero worries. I don’t even think of myself as having any vision issues anymore. It’s surreal.”

Dr. Euan Speirits, an Elite 4X and Downhill Mountain Bike Racer, also wears night lenses…

“Euan, could night lenses shake up the sports world for glasses and daytime lens wearers?”

“No ‘could’ about it. They ‘will’ absolutely revolutionize sports and life for those who can use them – glasses and daytime lens wearers included. The bottom line is that my life wouldn’t be where it is now if I’d stuck with regular contact lenses. I wouldn’t have achieved so much in mountain biking without the freedom night lenses give me. I can’t recommend them enough. Anyone who’s worn daytime lenses has had them move around in their eye and felt the ‘grate.’ Knowing that you don’t have to deal with that during high-performance sports is a game-changer. No difference between what you see and what you interpret. No compromises. Your vision is your own. I’m surprised more people don’t wear them.”

“What difference have night lenses made to your sporting life?”

“They’ve genuinely revolutionized it. I can compete all day without the distraction of contact lens dryness and lead a regular life without worrying about contacts drying out. For leisure, I do a lot of paddleboarding, and I don’t have to stress about losing contact lenses in the water. Night lenses have normalized my life completely.”

In the world of elite sports, where the difference between first and second place, scoring goals or missing them, winning or losing points, and setting world records comes down to fractions of a second or millimeters, achieving peak performance requires everything to be spot-on. Catriona and Euan, along with other night lens users competing at a pro or high amateur level, believe that having “perfect vision” with nothing in your eyes or on your face is the logical choice for peak performance and results at the highest level.

Can night lenses help our pipeline of future champions?

It’s astonishing how many stories we hear from adults who gave up on their dreams of excelling in sports due to their nearsightedness. As soon as they needed glasses or contact lenses, they threw in the towel. We spoke to Oisin McVeigh, a 17-year-old rugby union player with a burning desire to advance in the sport he loves…

“Osh, you’re a rugby player. How does this change things for you, and how do you think it’ll be different moving forward?”

“Everything in sports feels a lot easier now. In rugby, I need to be alert and see what’s happening on the field, and it was tough when I couldn’t see across the pitch or identify the players! Good vision is a game-changer and will significantly enhance my performance. To get better, I needed either lenses or sports glasses, but I wasn’t keen on the hassle – lenses falling out or dirt getting in during a match. Night lenses are perfect.”

And as always, behind every promising young athlete, there are supportive parents who are the influencers and decision-makers when it comes to their child’s progress. We had a chat with Osh’s mum, Grainne…

“So, Mum, how did Osh end up with night lenses?”

“Osh is a talented rugby player, but he didn’t wear glasses or lenses on the pitch, and we couldn’t understand how he could play without proper vision. To improve, it was evident that he needed something to aid his sight, so we explored our options. He wasn’t keen on wearing lenses for sports, fearing they’d fall out or get dirty during a game. Sports glasses weren’t appealing either. Then, we stumbled upon night lenses, and they sounded odd at first – lenses that change your eyesight while you sleep? We did some research, and here we are!”

“Why is putting Osh into night lenses important to you as a parent?”

“Two things matter to me as a parent. First, stabilizing his eyesight [Editor’s note: night lenses can stabilize myopia in children]. My eyesight is -13, and I know how crippling it can be to have really poor vision. When I was young, I was a fantastic swimmer, but I gave it up and no longer swim. I tried goggles, but they didn’t work for me. I loved all water sports, like water skiing, but I gave it all up. The second thing is providing him with choices and opportunities. This has opened up so much for Osh, and that’s fantastic – giving him choices and opportunities. He never has to give up on things due to poor vision or because daytime lenses or glasses hold him back. Hopefully, for his rugby, this will be the best gift we could give him as parents.”

If we can reduce the number of talented young athletes who quit sports because glasses or daytime lenses hinder them, or help more nearsighted youngsters progress faster and further in their sport by improving their vision at this crucial stage, our UK talent pool and development pipeline will undoubtedly benefit. Are night lenses a revolutionary game-changer that will enable some of our elite young athletes to break through while assisting a portion of the roughly 1.5 million nearsighted 8-18-year-olds in the UK to perform at a higher level in professional or amateur sports? Without a doubt.

** ASK YOUR OPTICIAN ABOUT NIGHT LENSES **
If you compete at any sport at a professional level or at a high amateur level and you find this article interesting enough to want to find out more, please ask your optician about night lenses. If your optician doesn’t fit night lenses you can find your nearest fitter here: CLICK HERE to insert your postcode into our interactive google map

But seriously, how do night lenses work?
CLICK HERE to see a cool/simple animation that explains the process
CLICK HERE to read/watch stories of other people who use night lenses

Article author

This article has been written by Tom Griffiths, Managing Director of Scotlens, a small custom-fit contact lens manufactuer in Scotland who have been making night lenses since 2003. Tom is an entrepreneur/social entrepreneur whose teen son’s life was completely transformed by night lenses. This life changing moment for his son, achieved with a ‘night lens’ which he had never heard of or been offered by his optician, sparked Tom into action. Passionate about the benefits of night lenses and determined to spread the word, Tom eventually joined the company where he continues his work as an ambassador for night lenses and as a Myopia Control Awareness campaigner for children and their parents.

CLICK HERE if you are a sports coach/body/association or media interested in contacting Tom
CLICK HERE to see Tom’s inspiration – his 16 year old son, a surfer (impossible without night lenses) – hear his family’s story