The forecast called for early morning thunderstorms, but the thunderheads must have been distracted for a while because we had ideal swim conditions until about 9:15am!
I was out there at 6:30am, and the Ochoas had just arrived. The lake was calm and perfectly clear with the official mercury reading coming in at 64F. I did a quick out-and-back mile in just my jammers and swim cap and didn’t really get cold at all. I could tell, however, that the water was significantly colder below one meter in depth.
Among the swimmers out today were Laura, Nick, and Simon as well as new Lake Monsters Rey and Jack. We also had quite the variety of wildlife out at Ladder #1. In addition to a couple of large lake bass and a considerable swarm of smelts, a decent-sized turtle paddled around the swim site and lurked nearby for a few hours. I chased it down and brought it to the surface one time, but – quite understandably – he didn’t seem too happy having that much personalized attention.
Once again, if you slept in you really missed out!
We had a great turnout this morning. Among the returning Lake Monsters were Amanda H., Carla, Nick, Jonathan, Chris, Amber, and Amanda E. The official lake temperature came in at 62F with no thermoclines. As the video shows, the weather was ideal!
I like to emphasize to people that when you swim in Lake Michigan, you are not really swimming in a “lake” per se. Due to it’s enormous size and water volume, Lake Michigan is actually an inland sea.
In fact, the Great Lakes are so massive that they have actually spawned cyclonic storms very similar to hurricanes.
In September of 1996, an extremely powerful storm system formed over the Great Lakes that, when viewed by satellite imagery, strongly resembled a hurricane complete with wide rotating bands and an eye-like center:
(click image for full size)
Nicknamed Hurricane Huron, this cyclone storm produced winds gusting up to 73 mph – just slightly below the Glossary of Weather and Climate’s criteria for being deemed an official hurricane.
So remember – although we refer to Lake Michigan as a lake, it’s nothing at all like the one at summer camp!
Essentially, just five minutes of exercise out in a natural setting (versus a gym) significantly improves one’s mental health.
What I found particularly noteworthy was that the presence of water seemed to play a significant role in elevating one’s mood:
All green environments improved both self-esteem and mood; the presence of water generated greater improvements. Although participants should be encouraged to undertake outdoor activities in both rural and urban environments, spending time near waterside (e.g., beach or river) or participating in water-based activities may give a greater benefit.
This was our first real hot weather day out at the swim site. The air temp came in at 69F at 7:30am with plenty of sunshine that promised to make things even warmer during the swim.
The lake temp read 56F, so I decided to go with just my jammers and thermo shirt along with a neoprene cap. I was fine for the swim – although I did admittedly swim at a very brisk pace. The only challenge was dealing with the afterdrop when I got out of the water. But by that time the air temp was around 78F and climbing! In fact, if you didn’t look at the calendar, you would have sworn it was July!
Who says you need to go to SF Bay for a cold and foggy swim? Here we are at L1 right after a low visibility out-and-back jaunt to Oak Street Beach:
Amanda, Nick, and new Lake Monster Ned joined me (or shall we say, outpaced me) for the 1 mile swim in a 55F Lake Michigan. The fog really settled in during the return leg – and I don’t think any of us swam a straight route back! Needless to say, it was certainly an adventure!
I decided rather late last night to do an early morning swim today. So I put up a spontaneous post on the super-awesome OWC Facebook Fan Page. Apparently you all must actually read that site because Alicia came out and earned her much-coveted Lake Monster “stripes!”
The official lake temperature came in at 55F with clear skies and lots of sunshine to help warm things up during and after the swim. We’ll be out there really early on Saturday to catch the sunrise, so be sure to come on out!
