Open Water Swimming meccas
evmo
SydneyAdmin
Interesting post at the DNOWS, the "Great Cities In America For Open Water Swimming" :
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2013/12/great-cities-in-america-for-open-water.html?m=1
"Hidden Gems":
Not sure why Steve left off NYC/Brooklyn, home of the CIBBOWS & NYC Swim, but whatever.
[EDIT] Steve added NYC as #6 on the list, shortly after I suggested it.
What would a marathon swimming-specific list look like? Remember, this is about the body of water, but also about the people you get to swim with.
Here's my list (US only):
1. La Jolla
2. San Francisco
3. Ventura (California)
4. New York City
5. Chicago
6. Los Angeles / Orange County
7. Seattle
8. Boston
9. somewhere in Florida, I guess?
10. Denver
Please feel free to add your own list, or state your objections to mine!
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2013/12/great-cities-in-america-for-open-water.html?m=1
1. Honolulu, Hawaii
2. San Francisco, California
3. La Jolla (San Diego), California
4. Boston, Massachusetts
5. Atlantic City/Ocean City, New Jersey
6. Miami, Florida
7. Washington D.C.
8. Indianapolis/Noblesville, Indiana
9. Chicago, Illinois
10. Austin, Texas
11. Miami, Florida
12. Laguna Beach (Orange County), California
"Hidden Gems":
1. Chattanooga, Tennessee
2. Atlanta, Georgia with Lake Spivey
3. Fort Myers, Florida
4. Branson, Missouri with Table Rock Lake
5. Clearwater/Tampa Bay, Florida
6. Seattle, Washington
7. Las Vegas, Nevada with Lake Mead
8. Derby, Vermont with Lake Willoughby / Lake Memphremagog
9. Salt River, Arizona
10. Salt Lake City, Utah
11. Bend, Oregon with Elk Lake
12. Orlando, Florida with Lake Cane
Not sure why Steve left off NYC/Brooklyn, home of the CIBBOWS & NYC Swim, but whatever.
[EDIT] Steve added NYC as #6 on the list, shortly after I suggested it.
What would a marathon swimming-specific list look like? Remember, this is about the body of water, but also about the people you get to swim with.
Here's my list (US only):
1. La Jolla
2. San Francisco
3. Ventura (California)
4. New York City
5. Chicago
6. Los Angeles / Orange County
7. Seattle
8. Boston
9. somewhere in Florida, I guess?
10. Denver
Please feel free to add your own list, or state your objections to mine!
Comments
UK, Ireland, continental Europe, AUSTRALIA (!), etc. etc.
http://www.youtube.com/?watch?v=3nhgfjrKi0orasd
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Eng.... Serpentine, Dover
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
I was thinking the same thing! Scratch Washington DC and head east to Annapolis area with the bay and river swims.
Perhaps the thinking was that Potomac River swims are in the DC area, which they are not.
Wherever Rob D is.
/thread
Cheers,
Rob
I mean you could go to Sandycove, but really, Sandycove is too warm and sheltered, that extra quarter of a degree makes them soft, it has almost no jellyfish, is protected from prevailing winds and it only has one piddling little cave that you can't even really swim into and you are falling over Channel swimmers who just get underfoot, with cake and tea everywhere, there's all that racing and competitive stuff. Whereas the Copper Coast is 40km of pure cold stingy wild cave sub-cliff lone swimming.
Or you could go to Black Rock in Dublin, but there's the same problem with Channel swimmers underfoot, and then you might end up on @Fergal's SPAM friend list and next thing you know you're in a pub in the Dublin Mountains in the middle of winter having just done something stupid, again.
Seems like an easy choice to me...
loneswimmer.com
I tried to convince myself, but, orange flavour electrolyte, mixed with hot chocolate,
tastes nothing like Terry's Chocolate Orange ....
DC is another turd. I probably have over 150 miles in the Potomac River and can attest that it is a nasty place too swim. The Bay is much better.
La Jolla and Hampton, NH are probably my two favorite places to swim outside of Florida.
Atlantic City and the rest of the Jersey Shore are awesome in the summer. There's a race every weekend.
I'm glad to hear about Hampton as it's relatively close to me. Any specific spots I should check out?
My in laws are there. When I was training for my EC swim, I went up there for some long workouts.
I swam round trips from Rye Rocks Beach to the south end of North Beach. Water was 48-51 degrees. I did two back to back swims of 3 hours each. It was probably the best cold water training I ever had.
If you like jerky... you have to try biltong!
@sharkbaitza
Mauritius swimmers
http://themetapicture.com/its-pretty-ridiculous-that-something-like-this-exists-the-worlds-largest-swimming-pool/
I would add Bermuda to the list. The Round the Sound swim is beautiful and well-organized. The best open water conditions I have seen.
@David, the idea of 20,000 swimmers is almost as far from the idea of a swimming Meccas as I can conceive. Unless it was 25,000 and held in the filthy waters of Rio.
I'll stick to my cold clean and most importantly empty waters thanks!
loneswimmer.com
I'd say the "mecca" for most of us is the place, whether pool, pond, river, lake, sea or ocean.. is the one we can access easily, cheaply,( or FREE) and often. Sometimes it's the best we can do to swim 15 min in a community pool at the end of a long day and the beginning of a long night.
@Suzidods, in many ways, quite true. I'm extremely fond of Lake Mascoma...
However, this list does have me eyeing Boston more favorably as a place to live than once it was....
S. California,
N. California,
Hawaii (Oahu and Maui especially),
Uruguay,
Argentina (if you like rivers),
Sarasota,
Florida Keys,
Tahiti,
Fiji,
Bermuda,
Barbados,
Cayman Islands
Come on out to the eastern shore. Ocean city, Nanticoke, choptank, Chincoteague...so much water and great places to swim.
There is a regular ocean swim group summer weekend mornings (and other times) at North Hampton NH. We used to swim regularly at Rye/Jenness, but the Covid parking restrictions in Rye moved us a little distance down the coast. Both are great spots.
No US list can be complete without mentioning Jax Beach, FL, where the Duval Ocean Swimmers swim daily, year round, in all conditions.
One and only Bora Bora!
Top!
My opinion!
All is not bad.but go in nice sunny day to swim in Varadero (Cuba)! And after will talk!)
My opinion
All the best
Washington State has a lot to offer.
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
I see that you live near Seattle in Vashon. I'm moving to Seattle from TX. Can you give me some places and people to swim with in the area, a few days per week? I am excited to get back into colder, longer open water swims. I have built up my base again and would like to start pushing the yardage!
Thank you
@boobooaboo Alki Beach (at the bath house) in West Seattle is the nexus for open water swimmers, people are there every day to swim, year-round, usually weekday evenings and weekend mornings. Jerome Leslie is the guy to talk to, you can't miss him, he's like 7 feet tall. I'd recommend joining the Western Washington OWS group on FB to find swim buddies for other locations. There are lakes galore and you can find people who are familiar with them on the FB group, as there are areas to be avoided due to boat traffic. I used to live near Seward Park (Lk Washington/south Seattle) so I'm partial to that location. You can swim around the peninsula, remaining fairly near shore, to avoid boat traffic. We have a group on Vashon Island that swims year-round at various locations, there's a meetup group (Vashon Open Water Swimming), and folks frequently come from off-Island to join in the fun. I manage Colman Pool, also in West Seattle, outdoors (summer only) on the beach at Lincoln Park, LCM and filled with sea water, if you fancy pool swimming. Welcome to Seattle!
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
@wendyv34 thank you so much for the detailed response! I think we are going to end up in the columbia city area (need to be close to both Boeing Field and Sea Tac). I will probably be spending a lot of swims at Seward, and join in Alki when I can. I found the West WA FB group. I will have to find the Vashon group...the girl would have fun on the ferry and sitting on the beach reading while we swim.
I've heard about Colman Pool...I will definitely be swimming there when I can! The setup reminds me of the 33yd pool in Austin, which name escapes me right now. Are there covid restrictions to be aware of this summer for the Colman Pool?
You're thinking of Deep Eddy in Austin, I got to swim there a few years back and it was perfect, 68 degrees & spring fed. It was 100 years old when I was there. Colman is 80 years old this year. They don't make pools like those any more.
At Colman, we'll be operating a bit differently from our normal program, due to COVID, (mostly staff shortage & budget at this point). There will be five 1-hour sessions per day, (12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30 & 6pm) drop-in, first come first served, tickets are sold for all swims that day, beginning at 11:45am (on-site). We're going to start at 25% capacity and try to boost it to 33% if we can manage it. Masks will be required in the locker rooms. The pool will be divided roughly half/half with lap lanes and rec swim area for all 5 sessions. $6.25 for adults, $4.25 youth/senior/disability or get a 10-swim pass for $54/$37, they never expire. You can buy the passes online www.seattle.gov/parks click the yellow box that says "sign up..."
Columbia City is a cool neighborhood. I lived there for about 7 years. It's not bad getting to West Seattle from there. For the other seasons, you'll be situated between 2 nice indoor pools, Rainier Beach (new in 2013) to the south and Medgar Evers to the north, (my winter workplace) which had major renovations in 2019.
Say "hi" when you visit Colman!
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.
Than, you for all the gouge! Coming from Texas, it is a bit unexpected to read that the city is still very strict with capacity...I did read an article that 70% of Seattleites have been fully vaccinated so I’m hoping those restrictions soon change, especially in outdoor pools.
Thank you for all of the recommendations, and I will definitely say hello when I make it to Colman. I’ve heard wonderful things. And it will be nice to have 2 other pools within biking distance of my home. Excited to get back into cold water and go for longer swims.
June 30th is supposedly the date when WA officially reopens, although how long it takes to get to "normal" is anyone's guess.
It's always a bad hair day when you work at a pool.