Chicago has great beaches and a great body of water to swim in. However the City / Park district won't allow it without using some "lifeguard can" .. or swimming 5' from edge of the shore in about 1-3' of water where kids and families are standing. I find it really odd as you can go to most places in the US / world and swim to one's heart's content without any silly restrictions. They claim the restriction is because they don't want kids out in the water but its kinda silly to me to make a blanket rule that covers anything from toddlers to adults. Now there is one place in downtown that they will allow people to swim ... against a steel wall about 4' from getting out of the water. The lifeguards claim it would be safer to swim on the beach than there but apparently someone placed this rule for kids without thinking about adults. However they will let you swim with some lifeguard can attached to you. I refuse to use this as first it makes no sense in 5'- 8' deep water 20 feet from the edge of the shore. Second I really don't want something attached to me to get tangled up in and drown. Rope in the water doesn't mix in my view ... now if your point was to rescue someone then I can see these tools as being useful. But to swim I think not.
The question I would like to ask here. Does this seem like an overly ridiculous rule or is this something that some other places have where the beach is just a spot to stand in knee deep? And any thoughts about the safety of actually using one of these lifeguard cans. It would make a great lawsuit to the city if they made someone use one got tangled in it and drown. When did we get to a point in our existence as humans where there has to be rules about swimming in water. If you swim and drown ... thats your own fault right. You as a human made the choice, nature created the water / beach. Lawyers suck if anyone ever thought it would be the city's fault.
Water temp 62°F air temp 80°F was denied by lifeguard and supervisor while wearing a 1.5mm neoprene shorty suit. Seems like I was thinking about my safety.
I totally understand but to get you in the water order a safe swim buoyI agree, get a swim buoy. If you get tangled up in the belt or cord and drown, we will make sure to nominate you for a Darwin Award.
Most swim rules are written to a lowest common denominator of the non-swimmer/novice swimmer. And while you and most of the folks on this forum could easily swim 100 yards to a few miles off shore without incident. The rules are written so the 11 year old novice swimmer doesn’t follow you out into the deep water and drown.
Most beach lifeguards have a tough enough time as it is; having them qualify each beachgoer as to how far they are allowed to swim is a burden they don’t need. Requiring a rescue can or buoy seems like a viable compromise. The other option is to swim when the beaches aren’t being guarded; in which case I would strongly recommend a swim buddy or rescue can.
Does this seem like an overly ridiculous rule or is this something that some other places have where the beach is just a spot to stand in knee deep?
Not ridiculous IMO. The lifeguards have no idea how well you can swim and do not have time to test you. The lifeguards do not know what other yahoo on the beach will overestimate his or her own swimming skills to follow you. From the stand, the lifeguards cannot be constantly switching focus between watching you way out (especially if you are not highly visible such as by towing something big and orange) and paying attention to all the swimmers close in who may well be at a greater risk of drowning.
I am a member of a club that has privileges to swim outside the marked swim area in a lake near my home. The lake isn't very big (swimming the whole perimeter takes a strong swimmer about 45 minutes) but it's big enough that a person in the middle could drown long before a lifeguard could get there from the shore. All the club members have to be swim-tested, and we have to wear special caps to identify us as club members when we swim. Even so, the park district permits club members to swim outside the marked swim area only during hours when guards are not on duty. They don't want ordinary patrons thinking that they too can strike out for the opposite side.
Swimming in Lake Michigan in this season can be awesome and I hope that you can figure out a place and time to do it while you are in Chicago. Look up the website for Open Water Chicago for one idea.
I totally understand but to get you in the water order a safe swim buoy from kiefer.com. I use them in Lake Michigan and local inland lakes. It suprisingly has very little impact on your swim. I've never become entangled in it and you hardly know its there. I've had mine for close atleast 3 years. Think of it this way... if something does happen at least they'll be able to find your body. Not much consolation to you but think of your surviving relatives.
