Happy August! As promised, below are some of your swim reports and war stories from the last couple of weeks.
See you soon!
Steve
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Mary Ellen (Lake Monster 185)
(Jul 18)
Red and I went for a sunrise swim this morning, 7/18. We waited till the sun was above a low band of clouds and got in around 5:45. There were gentle, low swells and if the temp wasn’t 70 it was darn close. Bonus – the temp was consistent throughout the swim! Didn’t come across a single cold pocket.
Martin (Lake Monster 230)
(Jul 26)
05:35, water ~63-64F at L1, ~65F at OSB (Martin’s thermoreceptor reading), water completely flat, visibility approx 2 m, sunrise visible through clouds, Emily and I swam the normal 1.5 km, OSB time 14:05, on the way back I used a somewhat higher stroke rate, 13:30. There were four swimmers preparing to swim when we arrived to L1, probably triathletes from Ohio S B. Cycled home and went straight back to sleep until 11. 14/60. Eventless swim, I am so sleep deprived after a tough week I was afraid of falling asleep while cycling.
(Jul 24)
Non-swim. 0:30, Skyline Wall, observed the lake for a while then hung on to a ladder in swim attire for five minutes, quite an experience, 8 ft waves with Force 5 wind, it is wetting the 3rd platform, showering me from above, one wave made me lose footing and I was only hanging on with hands. I judged this far too dangerous to swim at night, chance of being smacked against submerged rock or the wall is simply too high. Water temp 17-18°C. With 6 ft swells it was safe to do in April.
(Jul 15)
Midnight, Polar vortex nostalgy. Marton L1 nighttime swim writeup and how-to, publishable version. L1 water temp est. ~17°C, 63F, 2 ft chaotic swells, air temp 17-18°C, 64F. Cloudy with light rain ending shortly before swim. Rode my bicycle to L1 with a bicycle helmet on top of a swimming cap and ear plugs, in shorts on top of compression shorts, used a pair of completely destroyed shoes, no socks, dirty towel around waist, swim goggles in pocket. Hid the entry card for my building in the soil next to a low concrete wall, covered with some leaves as usual, tied my keys around my waist with a sling. Locked the T-shirt, shorts and bicycle to a sign post with a U-lock. You have to cut either the shirt or the U-lock to get the T-shirt. The towel and the shoes are for free, worth about $0 and you still risk a beating if I catch you stealing them.
The water felt like 62-63F, not that bad. I entered slowly, took a few breaststrokes, immersed my head then swam butterfly to L6 in 6:30 min. It felt comfortable, tiring but sustainable. Some more butterfly to about the 400 m point, then I took off the goggles and swam to the white house, 500 m point and turned around. Swam heads-up breaststroke all the way back and finished at L3. This took 24:30 min but felt like an eternity, 0.9 km swim, 14/58. Slightly chilled afterwards, reminded me of early October.
Emily (Lake Monster 291)
(Aug 2)
Great swim today. The water was warm and pretty flat. We determined it was 69.5 by taking a small poll of “what does it feel like?” Very scientific. The sunrise was less than spectacular in itself, but once it came out if proved to be a beautiful day.
Also, my friend Garth joined us and became a new Lake Monster, so I took his official membership photo.
[Photo credits: Emily]
Garth, Lake Monster 317 (congrats!)
