Swim Report – October 24, 2009 – Unplanned Drama

I hit the hay early last night (around 9:00pm) because I knew that the extra sleep would really help take the edge off of today’s expected chilly temperatures. Surprisingly, the lake came in at 54F with the outside air temperature hovering in the 42F range at 7:00am.

The great news is that OWC is now a national phenomenon. Fred came out last week from North Carolina. And this morning, Owen (a.k.a. Lake Monster #34) showed up at Ladder #1 during a visit to Chicago. He hails from the Bay Area and had contacted me a few weeks ago about joining us for a swim. We definitely gave him a good story to take home…

Owen and I suited up rather quickly since the air was quite crisp and the sun was conspicuously absent given the heavily overcast skies. I wore a full wetsuit, neoprene booties, and a thicker latex swim cap. The water was completely calm and a surprising 54F. We did a full mile to Oak Street Beach and back at a fairly brisk pace. During the return leg, I typically sight on three white squares that are painted on the retaining wall. But Ladder #1 was clearly visible from the beach thanks to all of Dave’s efforts.

The “adventure” took place during the last 1/4 mile of our swim. Apparently, one of the high rise dwellers saw my bicycle and all my stuff at Ladder #1 and speculated that some poor distressed soul had decided to say goodbye to the cruel world by jumping into the lake for a final plunge. So Owen and I got a police boat escort and were monitored by the scuba team until we got out of the water. The ironic thing is that no one was concerned about us swimming – it was the messy pile of all my clothes on my bike that raised a red flag. I truly need to work on my housekeeping skills…

Flinty skyline

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Owen, Lake Monster #34

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9 Replies to “Swim Report – October 24, 2009 – Unplanned Drama

  1. the Sunday nite 9pm a full moon swim was on.
    A friend of mine has been saying she wanted to try out some cold water for a whole year now ,so I mentioned that she is all talk and full of excuses. She agreed and decided no more talk and hit ladder one. After the first jump she walked around without toweling off for a few minutes then jumped in again. Since she did not die she went for a third time. Now she is looking forward to trying out the much colder water later this year.
    SWIM SUITS -WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN SWIM SUITS !

  2. Thank goodness someone out there still cares! Don’t ever swim nude or you will be looking for leaves. Ciao, God Bless!

  3. THE LADDER SURE LOOKED SHINEY IN THE PHOTO . DID YOU USE A CAR WAX TO POLISH IT?
    DID YOU SWIM FAST SO THE POLICE BOAT WOULD NOT CATCH YOU IN THE WATER? DID YOU SHOW THEM YOUR LIFE GUARD BADGE? HOW BRUTAL WAS THE BODY CAVITY SEARCH AND DID THEY DO IT AT LADDER #1 OR ON THE BOAT OR ON THE LAWN IN A PILE OF LEAVES? I HOPE THEY DID NOT RIP OR TEAR YOUR WET SUIT. WERE THE SWIM AREA BOUYS STILL IN ? HOW LONG WILL YOU BE IN JAIL AND WHAT SORTA OF CARE PACKAGE WOULD YOU LIKE US TO SEND ?

    1. Coffee and donuts…mmm.. Be sure to ask Dave about the infamous post-swim peanut butter and bacon bagel sandwiches!

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