I plan on doing the Big Shoulders Swim in Chicago next month for the first time. Will drive up from Cincinnati on the day before. If I go to the Ohio St. Beach the afternoon/evening before, is it likely that I will get in a warm-up swim?
If not, is there another place on the lake that would be good to get used to the lake? I have a reciprocating Y membership that will get me into the Lakewood Y, but I'd rather swim in the lake instead of a 20y pool.
Thanks for the help, and to all of you who have said that this OWS is addictive, you can say that again.
Pride in native son, most likely. Unfortunately, it did have the effect of politicizing the event, in a weird way. :rolleyes: Conversation here:
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
Hey Kirk,
I am interviewing for a Washington State job this week.. Are there any nice pools around the North central park of the state near Pateros or Brewster?
Didnt know Obama was a distance swimmer.....did he do the 5k or 2.5 k? This is way out of line, what was the tie in? Did he sponser the event, or did the event sponsors just do this? Why not Mayor Daley? Cant believe this is within guidelines...heck USMS has rules for everything else.
Well, I wussed out of Big Shoulders. Why? because I decided that to get up at 4 am for the nearly 3 hr drive to the race, only to get there and discover the water temp under 70 degrees,(reported to be 67 late Friday) causing me not to swim, that wasnt a chance I was willing to take. To bad, as I actually was looking forward to my first swim in Lake Michigan (going to do the 2.5 k) and first swim with that many participants. The problem, you see, is the only pool available to me is kept at 85 degrees year round,(water aerobics class disease, Pool director says," I dont think it is all that warm") which makes it tough to go swim in a 67 degree lake. I swam a few days in a local lake but it was above 80 (small lake). Next year I will find a colder lake and perhapse swim for the two weeks leading up to Big Shoulders in it alone. Anyone else have the same problem? What do you do to compensate for the difference in temperature? Am I just to big a wuss?
Hey Kirk,
I am interviewing for a Washington State job this week.. Are there any nice pools around the North central park of the state near Pateros or Brewster?
I'll be honest with you, I had no idea where Pateros and Brewster were until I looked on a map. I really know nothing about that area, but I'm guessing there probably aren't a whole lot of pools around there. Eastern Washington and Western Washington are very different beasts!
Back to the event...
Wow, the weather was fantastic and the water temp was great. Too bad you were scared off, Hoosier, because it really was fun. I swam my fastest time ever, but didn't place as high as I thought I would (12th overall). Looking at the results there were a lot of very fast guys (and gal: Erica Rose) in their early to mid 20s this year. Anyway, another great event. I didn't realize people objected to the shirt until I read this thread and the other one. I didn't get the negative vibe at the event itself. Out of the countless shirts I've gotten at meets and OW swims this is the first one my wife actually said she likes!
Here's a view of Ohio Street Beach after the swim.
Here's a view of Ohio Street Beach after the swim.
Oh, Pete's sake. It's probably the only image that will ever show me, and I am in the middle of a beach change! (No, I'm not telling you where to look!!)
:joker:
OK, here's the cause of shirtgate :)
thats funny!
again, i will offer an ow shirt trade to any offended party. how about a red and white 2007 chesapeake bay technical shirt....never worn size large. or a 2008 chesapeake bay long sleeve airbrush design size large........i've got a million of 'em.
I agree that it was a "boneheaded move" to politicize the swim shirt...
but it's a pretty cool shirt design, artistically speaking. Much better than the usual crap I get stuck with. One triathlon I did this year didn't even give us a shirt at all :eek: Don't they understand why we do these events?
