Keeping with tradition, I got my steak last night and went out to L1 earlier this morning to do my “baptism by ice” birthday swim . And Mother Nature showed up with a mighty fine present – a 52F lake!
Given that I am still building up the swim endurance I lost over the winter, I decided to walk down to Oak Street Beach and do a point-to-point half mile versus the out-and-back full mile. The air temp was on par with the water temp, which made for a somewhat crisp stroll to the swim start. But I jogged the last 1/8 mile to warm up a bit before getting in the lake.
I was pleasantly surprised when I waded out into the water. My feet weren’t painfully cold like they were yesterday up at Lighthouse Beach, and the initial “immersion shock” was much less intense than I was expecting.
I had decided to go with just my jammers and a double swim cap (silicone and neoprene). I also slathered on a bunch of petroleum jelly before getting in the water, and that made a huge difference. As such, I acclimated to the water within a couple of minutes and had a very comfortable swim back to L1.
‘Nuff said. Get on out here!
Blue dawn
Misty skyline
At the ladder
Finished!
The winter crate goes back into storage (yay!)
Id like to get into Lakefront swimming, but I seem to do better in deeper depths. How deep is the water at L1?
Hi Ray. It’s about 8 – 10 feet deep just off of L1.