I bumped up the swim start time to 7:30am this week to take advantage of the forecasted sunny weather. This turned out to be a wise move as the air temperature read 45F upon arrival and the water temperature came in at a lower-than-expected 43F (6.1C). The water conditions, however, were ideal – mirror flat with no winds agitating either the swim area or the swimmer.
I did an out-and-back to Ladder #13 (roughly 4/5 of a mile) and really had no trouble at all with the colder water. In fact, the only reason I opted not to do a full mile was that I’m nursing a strained levator scapulae muscle (look it up!) that began to bug me during the first leg of the swim. For the record, here was my equipment set up for this morning’s workout:
- Neoprene Body Glove swim cap with a thicker latex swim cap underneath
- O’Neill Thermo-X rash guard
- Xterra Vortex full wetsuit
- Deep See 5mm dive booties with neoprene foot covers underneath
- XS Dry Five 5mm diving gloves
I was initially concerned about not having my full-head neoprene dive hood. But I used petroleum jelly on the exposed areas of my neck and face, and that worked out quite well. As is typically the case, the only time I was ever uncomfortable was during the first five minutes of the swim – and only in my face and head. Basically, the rapid cold water immersion triggers a fair amount of pressure in your sinus cavities that then has to stabilize. While this takes only a few minutes, it can seem like an eternity! But once you get over that hump, the swimming is actually a breeze.
Oh yeah. One other item. You will all be happy to know that Open Water Chicago’s first underwater Twitter message was an unqualified success!
Last week I attended the very thought provoking event called Water: The New Oil? The featured speaker was Debra Shore, a Commissioner at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Her presentation provided a very comprehensive overview of the unique geography of the Chicago metropolitan area. But what I found to be particularly fascinating was how one simple canal has substantially impacted Lake Michigan and our water supply.
I spoke with Debra briefly after the event, and she was kind enough to have her office forward some of the presentation graphics for this posting. So let’s take a look at the unique geography of Chicago and how the modification of this geography has affected what’s known as the Lake Michigan Watershed.
Around 15,000 years ago, the entire Great Lakes basin was covered in glacial ice more than a mile thick in some areas. As this massive ice shelf receded, it carved out countless fissures and valleys, redistributing vast amounts of soil in the process.
One of the local by products of this glacial retreat was the formation of the subcontinental divide, a ridge of raised earth that separated the Des Plaines river basin from the Chicago River and Calumet River basins. Modern day Harlem Avenue roughly runs over this raised section of terra firma.
Historically, the Des Plaines River drained westward into the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, eventually reaching the Gulf of Mexico. By contrast, the Chicago and Calumet rivers drained into Lake Michigan.
An important item to note here is that any rain that fell to the east of the subcontinental divide served as a significant source of fresh water replenishment for Lake Michigan.
Up until 1900, the Chicago River was the city’s defacto “sewage system.” With human and industrial waste being expelled directly into Lake Michigan, the mouth of the Chicago River was a literal cesspool. And the now prime real estate known as Streeterville was a disease-ridden squatters’ camp nicknamed “The Sands.” In fact, the Chicago lakefront was so polluted that the only way to effectively provide clean drinking water was to build the water intake cribs two or more miles out in the distance. But by the late 1800’s, even that wasn’t far enough away.
So the city planners at the time came up with a radical solution – namely, to reverse the flow of the Chicago River by creating a canal from the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River. And in 1900, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was completed:
In order to do this, however, they had to create a breach in the subcontinental divide and disrupt an ecosystem that had developed and existed for thousands of years.
Before the Canal
After the Canal
There are two things to note here:
1) Fresh water sources (i.e. rain water) that used to drain eastward into Lake Michigan via this watershed now instead flow westward
Here’s a graphic which illustrates the diverted portion of the watershed that now no longer replenishes Lake Michigan:
2) Lake Michigan itself is now draining into the Gulf of Mexico
Bottom line, since 1967, when more accurate measurements began, it is estimated that over 30 trillion gallons of fresh water have been taken away from Lake Michigan.
The key point here is that we’re witnessing Newton’s Law on a grand scale. Namely, to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When you radically alter an existing system in nature – even if it is for a seemingly noble purpose – you’re going to get a radical reaction somewhere down the line. And it may not be an instant and obvious one, either.
So keep all this in mind whenever you look out on Lake Michigan. And don’t let its vastness mislead you. Remember – it may be big, but that doesn’t mean it’s infallible.
There’s a very interesting piece in today’s Chicago Tribune highlighting the speculation that the City of Chicago is considering privatizing its water system much like it has done with the parking meters and the Chicago Skyway.
Check out the whole thing and feel free to comment. I’d be interested in everyone’s opinion on this.
Unlike in some municipalities, swimming is celebrated and encouraged in Zurich, Switzerland. The Limmat river, which runs right through the city, is one of the best urban “swimming holes” around. The city has built pathways on both banks for easy pedestrian access, and there plenty of ladders to climb in and out of the river. Plus you can jump and dive off of the foot bridges for a quick dip on a hot day.
But perhaps the best manifestation of Zurich’s swimophilia is the annual Limmatschwimmen, where the city allows participants to commandeer the river for an afternoon and float down the Limmat en masse. I don’t know about you, but this certainly looks like a lot more fun than doing a 5K or 10K run for a cheap t-shirt and a goody bag filled with useless advertisements!
There’s a gold mine of good info here, but my favorite is one of his suggestions for ridding your pantry of sugar:
Kill cockroaches. These vile creatures love sugar, but they don’t love baking powder. If you mix the two in equal amounts, the roaches come for the sugar and die from the baking powder. Or maybe the fructose overloads their tiny roach livers?
The sun was out in full force by the time I arrived at Ladder #1. The air temperature came in at 51F, but the thermometer reading indicated a surprisingly warm lake at 54F. I went with a full wetsuit, a neoprene swim cap, neoprene foot covers, and thin neoprene gloves and was quite cozy during the out-and-back. I was testing out my new Barracuda wire mask swim goggles, and I’m happy to report that they performed flawlessly – I recommend everyone check them out.
The water had a slight ripple to it but was impeccably clear. I stayed fairly close to the retaining wall on the out portion of the swim and had no trouble at all sighting on Ladder #1 during the return trip. Post swim was reminiscent of late May or early June. With air temps hovering near 60F, I sat around, drank tea, and soaked up the sun. I realize many of you are reluctant to come out swimming past September, but this was definitely a late spring swim cloaked in November clothing. And since tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer and sunnier, I would advise to you dust off your wetsuit and give the lake a shot in the morning!
November sunrise
The author post-swim
“Kit” makes an appearance
Still life at Ladder #1
This morning’s footage (I goofed on the date – it’s actually not the 6th!)
There’s an article in today’s Tribune about how the Chicago Public Schools are offering a “free universal breakfast” to all of the students. The problem is that this free breakfast is – to put it mildly – junk.
Couched under the upbeat marketing moniker “MVP Breakfast,” this abomination is also known as a “Super Donut” by its manufacturer R Super Foods. R. Super Foods was started by former Pittsburgh Steeler great, Franco Harris.
This is a great example of how clever marketing is often used to disguise food items that are inherently unhealthy for humans. The logic in this case is that, since Franco Harris was such a tremendous athlete, anything produced by or endorsed by him MUST be good for you.
What the article doesn’t mention is that Franco Harris started his company based on a very flawed premises – namely, that you could convert bad food into good food just by artificially injecting it with nutrients. Per Franco:
Instead of demonizing the doughnut and eliminating it from our diet, why couldn’t we make one that gives you minerals, vitamins and protein?
What’s even more scary about this “super donut” is that it’s “available in school cafeterias in all 50 states, plus nursing homes, hospitals and health-care facilities across the country and at military bases around the world.”
I admire Franco Harris. He’s a fantastic athlete who has accomplished some amazing feats. But he’s pushing junk food on kids, soldiers, and senior citizens.
