How to find open water swimming (Cincinnati)

Good luck. I'm not aware of any possiblities for open water swimming in the Cincinnati area. I've looked for a couple of years. The closest allowed open water swimming that I can find is Brookville Lake in Indiana or Caesar Creek State Park. Those are both much too far for me to train in regularly. So I stick to the pools. At least the Powell Crosley YMCA usually has long course laps available May through October. Let me know if you find anything else. Come to think of it, there was one other person posting on this subject who also wanted to do something like this a couple of months ago. Perhaps we can band together and approach Hamilton Co. Parks for Miami Whitewater swimming or something.

I called around a little bit and may have a bite - Lake Harsha / East Fork State Park in Batavia? I've been to rowing competitions there. I spoke with a woman this morning who said the park is open dawn to dusk, and there is a swimming area which reaches a certain distance out from the beach, which is a little curved but 400 m long. (google map it). You can't go out past the buoys, but she's not sure if they've been taken in for winter. I'm going to head there Saturday morning and check it out, with a plan of swimming parallel to the beach once I get out 30-40 meters. Water temp on 9/21 was 74F. Based on historical, it should be between 54-64 now. I have a new sleeveless wetsuit, so I'm hoping it's closer to 64 so my arms don't turn blue (but the 45F weather this week does not bode well for that). I agree that we should try to organize people to push for a place to open swim. Maybe we'll organize and do something over the winter before next spring.

I wrote about finding a group back at the beginning of the summer but to no avail. I have swam a couple times in Acton lake but got chased out both times. I have access to a canoe and kayak so if we can find a place that will have us we would have boat support.

I'm going to find out how to appeal to the Hamilton County Parks board to allow swimming somewhere, somehow. I just visited Lake Isabella in Loveland for the first time, and it would be a wonderful place to open water swim. I'm sure there may be other places as well. Somehow they ought to be able to find a way to provide one open water swimming location in the county. When I find out the procedure, I'll come back here and see if we can get a group together to make some noise. Maybe a call to the press will help if we're going to get some action. Stay tuned ... tvbartman@hotmail.com

I did that Miami Whitewater race. It was a blast. For the last two years, there has been the double-crossing of the Ohio River downtown.

Hey, new action on the thread! I went to Harsha Lake (East Fork State Park) back in October. It was as billed ... there's an area buoy-ed off along the shore for about 400m and maybe running out 50m or so from the shore. So, you could swim away from the shore (and the families that will be there when the weather is nice) to the end buoy, and run along the far perimiter and get in a 400m open swim that way. I tested out my wetsuit, so you could even go when the weather isn't too bad. Definitely be safe though (spotter on the shore or something like that). Swimming in the Ohio? Yuck. There's a triathlon in Cincinnati now, the first year was 2008. The swim is in the Ohio, but the first year they had to cancel it and make it a duathlon because of the pollution level in the river. I don't know what happened this year. I think I'll avoid it. Maybe as spring approaches I'll look into things we can do. I'll come back and post if I am up to something. Tom

I just discovered this post (a little late), but I'm in the Cincinnati area as well. I would be interested in any organized open water swimming for next season. I thought the more folks you have the better chance you might have securing a spot to swim. I live out in Mason and have gone for swims in Ceasar's Creek but people tell me it isn't the cleanest body of water in OH. I would also like to see a good open water race in Cinicinnati. There was one a few years ago at the Whitewater state Park and it was a lot of fun.

What are the good openwater events that go on near Cincy? Looking forward to swimming in a few events in 2010, say within 70-100 miles. :drown:

There are Open Water swims in the Ohio LMSC that are part of the Fat Rabbit Racing series that takes place in Columbus Ohio. There are 2 to 3 open water events that they sponsor in June and July. There are a few of the Anderson Barracuda Masters and Mercy Healthplex Masters that get together during the summer and do some open water swims at East Fork Lake. As stated in one of the previous posts, there's an area buoy-ed off along the shore for about 400m and maybe running out 50m or so from the shore. So, you could swim away from the shore (and the families that will be there when the weather is nice) to the end buoy, and run along the far perimiter and get in a 400m open swim that way. There is a age group open water that has been hosted at East Fork Lake over the past 3 years. So, it would not be hard to solicit the park staff and get a person to head up a open water event for Masters. Please review the Ohio LMSC website under schedule of events. Thank you.

We have this same problem in NYC/Northern-NJ. Some hints we've tried: 1) Look for Federal Rec areas. In our area, they're much more lenient. 2) See if there are any local groups (perhaps check google or USMS.) In our case, there are 2 such groups that have special authorization.