By Steve Roberts 

Contact lenses for sport  worn only while sleeping have helped GB canoeist Adam Burgess to win a gold medal as a member of the C2 team at the European Slalom Canoe Championships held recently in Augsburg, Germany. Together with his C2 partner, Greg Pitt and the other GB C2 combinations of David Florence with Richard Houslow and Tim Baillie with Etienne Stott, the GB team held off the strong challenges of the Czech Republic and hosts Germany. Off to a fast start, the trio of boats worked smoothly together through the course demonstrating great skill and composure to cross the line in a fast time and then watched as the last two teams failed to beat their time leaving them in gold medal position.

Short-sighted Adam had previously struggled with conventional daytime contact lenses which he found to be completely unsuitable for the demands of canoeing and in his role at the front of the canoe, sharp vision to steer through the slalom course is of paramount importance. He then heard about Overnight Vision Correction - or OVC for short - which is a new treatment for short-sight based on the long-established optical science of orthokeratology. OVC uses small custom-designed contact lenses which are only worn overnight while sleeping then removed the following morning after which the lens wearer has perfect natural vision all day long. As contact lenses for sport  they are perfect for people like Adam since they offer all the natural vision benefits of laser surgery - but without the surgery.

Like many short-sighted people, Adam had considered laser treatment but he was concerned by the possible risks and so finding a non-surgical solution like OVC proved to be a perfect result for him. Just like his gold medal in Augsburg which shows how successful these contact lenses for sport  can be in enabling elite athletes to perform at the highest level. As fellow GB competitor Richard Hounslow said: "The team race was great, it was the first race we have all done together, but we knew with such a tough course there would be mistakes, so we created a solid plan, stuck to it and executed it well, which was enough to top the podium."

Check if you are suitable for overnight ortho-k corrective contact lenses  for sport.