Despite the forecasted thunderstorms and 19mph winds, we once again managed to luck out at 5:30am…
Six of us made it out to L1 in time to see a very brief sliver of a sunrise. The lake temperature came in at a balmy 57.7F with some occasional gusts agitating the water. But we didn’t get anything that strong or sustained. So overall, we had pretty good conditions for the out-and-back to Oak Street Beach.
Ben and Andrew showed up along with new Lake Monsters Desiree, John, and Brett (if I butchered anyone’s names, please let me know!). We waited around for about 15 minutes, and by that time the sun had reappeared above the cloud bank. So we all got in the lake and headed south.
It is worth noting however, that the water temperature was certainly not uniform. You could definitely feel a much colder thermocline layer about one meter below the surface. And there were some random cold patches – including one real bone-chiller just off of L1 that was quite a shock to swim through just as we were finishing up. But by then the sun was out in full force, so the post-swim afterdrop was rather mild.
As always, great times and great people!
Sunrise
Gearing up
Mid-swim
At the beach
More socializing
Desiree, Lake Monster 222 (congrats!)
John, Lake Monster 223 (congrats!)
Brett, Lake Monster 224 (congrats!)
This morning’s video compilation:
Hi Steve,
I’ll be in Chicago this weekend and would like to meet up. What time does everyone meet on Saturday? I’m staying at the Hyatt on East Wacker, not sure if I can walk to L1 from there. Hope to see you Saturday.
Hi Donna. We will be out there at 5:30am – sunrises are very early this time of year!
Do you swim only on Saturdays? I’m traveling to Chicago next week (M-W) for work and would like to get in an open water swim.
Hi Lori. Thanks for writing! I’m up in the suburbs these days, so I only get out to our swim site on the weekends during our “official” meetups. That being said, there are always people who go out to L1 during the week for a swim. Check out our Facebook fan page. I encourage people to post notices on there if they plan on being out at the lake during the week. That way they can organize a more spontaneous get-together with anyone else who might want to join them. Hope this helps!
Stever….
did you ever complete the list of all of the Lake Monsters to include all of the countries and USA states where they live ?
you need to also note which ones swam the English Channel . across all 5 great lakes , the long distance New York city swims , Escape from Alcatraz , big shoulder’s etc….
we have a very diverse list of swimmers.