Fred, Steve, and I all met out at L1 on Saturday morning to see if we could get in one last swim of January. We were fortunate in that the swim area was completely clear and calm. However, we certainly did not have the stellar conditions of last week!
The surface temperature of the lake came in at 35F, which would later be adjusted to an official in-swim reading of 34F. The air temperature, though, came in at a biting 24F with a rather cutting breeze plaguing us while out of the water.
Because I wanted to stay in the water longer this time, I went with a full wetsuit. As such, I was able to do a 1/2 mile quite comfortably with only a minimal afterdrop. Also, I did the old scuba trick of adding hot water (actually hot tea) into my gloves before putting them on, and this made an enormous difference in swim!
Since I haven’t been doing any lengthy swims with the fullsuit, I had forgotten how much it encumbers one’s range of motion in the arms. So after finishing my 1/2 mile, I was quite fatigued in my neck and shoulders.
And you all wonder why I prefer to swim without a wetsuit!
A free and clear swim area!
Prepping for lake entry
Steve and Fred at the swim start
