New contact lenses designed to give athletes an edge

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — When Camille Walters plays soccer, her normally brown eyes have a spooky red tint.

That's because the 15-year-old wears tinted contact lenses that block certain wavelengths of light and help athletes see better. Oh, and they look cool, too.

"It gives me more confidence because you feel intimidating and bigger and stronger, kind of an ego-booster," said Walters, who plays for Father Ryan, a Catholic high school in Nashville.

Walters and a growing number of other athletes are wearing the MaxSight lenses, which were developed jointly by Nike and contact-lens maker Bausch & Lomb.

The lenses — large enough to extend a ring around the iris — come in two colors: amber and grey-green.

The amber lens is for sports with fast-moving balls, such as tennis, baseball, football or soccer. Grey-green is better for blocking glare for runners or helping a golfer read the contour of the ground.

Professional athletes tested the lenses last year before they were rolled out for general sales.

The sports lenses can be purchased only through a doctor's office at a cost of $80 per box, $160 if the prescription for each eye varies.

Dr. Jeff Kegarise, an optometrist in Brentwood, already has prescribed the lenses for college baseball players, golfers, equestrian riders and tennis players.

"The first reaction from the first two people I fit in this, they went outside and said, 'This is really cool. It's like wearing sunglasses outside,' " Kegarise said.

Walters, who plays both for her high school and on a travel team, is farsighted and uses MaxSight prescription lenses, but they also come in a noncorrective version.

"It cut out some of the sun, so it wasn't as bright," Walters said. "It was easier to pick out where the ball was at times when it was in the air."

But does the MaxSight lens give some athletes an unfair advantage? The associations that govern high-school and college sports don't think so, but they're keeping an eye on the lenses.

Jerry Diehl, assistant director of the National Federation of State High School Associations in Indianapolis, said his group doesn't believe the lenses provide the competitive advantage that Nike claims.

The federation allows the lenses and puts them in the same category as sunglasses or corrective lenses. The NCAA also allows the sports lenses because it considers them similar to sunglasses.

But Diehl said he's worried about the perception of an unfair advantage. "If one affluent team can get this, it forces everybody else to go out and do that," Diehl said.

Dr. William Jones of Nashville said he expects the lenses to be popular on teams in wealthier school districts.