I am fairly new to masters and did my first OW event last year (Big Shoulders Swim 5k) and had a blast! I am doing it again in September and am very looking forward to it. Being an OW newbie (that was actually the first time I swam a race outside of the lap pool) I recall my biggest hurdle was getting used to sighting, waves and the sheer feeling of not being in a pool haha. I would love to get into some larger distances and do more races, but I would want to get some more OW practice to feel more comfortable.
I am from Lansing Michigan (center of the state) and am curious if anyone knows of some good locations to practice at. I know there a tons of lakes in Michigan but I wouldn't know where to begin to find out if there are any groups of people or alotted times for OW swimming in them (alot of them that I have been too are mainly fishing type lakes).
I have posted a thread in the Michigan forum and have almost 100 views without a response, so I figured I would try here as another route :). I also posted a thread in the MI forum about swim groups and got about 600 views without a response as well, so I am thinking maybe I am the lone person in Lansing haha...
I would be willing to drive a few hours as I would probably only do it once a month in addition to my weekly lap pool swims so I am open to location. Maybe it is worthwhile to just take the drive to Lake Michigan?
Any help would be much appreciated!
A workout group from K'zoo swims occasionally at S. Haven in the big Lake: contact Dave Pohlonski, via Facebook (Arcadia Swim Club); Group from FAST wk'out group swims in a lake near Brighton. In Holland, last year a small group would swim at 8 am on Sundays at Holland State Park: check w/Ken Cooper via F'bk. Call the new Chair of MI LMSC, Gail Dummer, who lives in Lansing and swims at MAC, where they have Masters practice...or write her at dummer@msu.edu for more info. on OW swimming. Very popular OW race is Coastal Crawl, next Sunday at Harbor Springs,1,2,or 3 mile races. Good luck with your pursuit. Jennifer Parks, Holland, MI
We have a group in Battle Creek that averages swimming in a local lake about twice a month. We usually just pick a lake and a meeting time and swim around the lake. We usually swim for about and hour to hour and a half. Most of the group uses the Kiefer Safe Swimmer buoys. You can reply to my post if interested.
I live in Holland and just completed the swim across the Straits of Mackinac; I trained for that in Lake MI, by myself. I swim from Holland State Park to Tunnel Park and as my big swim approached I turned around and came back. (1.6 miles one way). Swimming in the big lake is so much more refreshing than small lakes or ponds. Have fun!!
