Swimming in Natural Water is Full of Surprises

After the Rains
(Note the paddleboat listing because the foot wells in the front
hold more water than the shelves in the back.)

On of the challenges with lake swimming, especially when you are training for an event, are the unpredictable conditions. When I used to lap swim during my lunch hour I knew that the water temperature would be about 80 degrees, there would be clearly delineated lanes, water depth would always be the same and there'd be not much in the way of water motion. Not so in a lake. Every swim is a new adventure.

This week we had a night with over a half inch of rain and since then swimming has been very different. The water level went up way more than half an inch. I'd guess it's about 6 inches deeper around our dock. That means that the sandy place with no weeds just of the end of the dock that was perfect for my water aerobics now makes my exercises more difficult since I'm moving through more water.

The water temperature has dropped noticeably as well. That actually is a plus because it had gotten over 90 degrees so was a bit too warm. The amount and direction of the wind makes a big difference, too. Sometimes we have whitecaps on our little lake and others it is smooth as glass. Sometimes the wind pushes you away from shore but more often the more wind there is the more you get pushed toward the shore.

The location and quantity of weeds is somewhat variable. For the most part my regular workouts help me to know where there are weedbeds and how to get around them. But over time weeds continue to grow so the areas with weeds can get bigger and the weeds get taller. Sometimes weeds break loose and float around. Occasionally the wind blows floating clumps of algae into our bay.

All in all this makes it really hard to feel prepared for the triathlon. There is no way to know what the conditions will be on race day. I just hope that by training in a variety of conditions I'll have a sense of how to handle them. For example, when the wind is whipping up waves, I know I need to get my head further our of the water to catch a breath and if I forget to exhale through my nose I'll be getting a nose full of water blown in. This is where I have an advantage over the other swimmings. I get to train in the triathlon location all the time.

Regardless of the challenges, I am finding lake swimming enjoyable. As long as I avoid the weekends I pretty much have the whole lake to myself. It is wonderful to see the natural environment all around me as I swim. And when I find myself way out in the lake I've gained enough confidence to enjoy a sense of freedom from the sensation of being bouyed by the water. I guess I'm pretty lucky to have this in my life.