Open-water swim, July 21

In spite of the rain on Sunday, the lake was clean and the water was the warmest yet: about 25 C. The water was calm except for an occasional wake bringing in a set of rollers. I swam more continuously than ever before, but at a slow pace.

There were seven students. After warm-ups and drafting practice, we each did a fairly large loop in the water — perhaps 250 metres long for me, longer for most of the others. At the far end of the loop we swam to the beach, got out and circled the lifeguard’s platform, and back into the water. I tried to use our previous lessons about running lightly into the water and then doing some dolphin dives to travel fast in the shallows.

Afterwards we posed for a group photo.

That wasn’t energetic enough, so we tried again.

See Kelvin’s swim diary.

I’m watching the Tour de France go over the highest pass in Europe–9,000 feet? There are only a few more days to go—until July 27. Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town for the last three days. LotStreetWiz will have to watch them by himself.

Open-water swim, July 14

We had a bit of rain on Friday but the water quality was good again by Sunday so swimming was on for tonight. We got to the beach by 6:15 p.m. and the first thing I did was to test the water temperature. Our instructor was there already and told me that the water was 70 degrees F. So I decided I could do without the wetsuit.

This is training for triathlons, so the lessons are progressive. We concentrated on greater distances and on getting a fast start from stopped and treading water. I’m still not as fast as the others, so I did smaller loops and shorter distances. I still covered about a thousand yards. It wasn’t all front crawl: I switched off with resting strokes like breast stroke and side stroke.

Fifth open-water swim

Open-water swim at Cherry Beach

The weather was fine. There were eight of us swimmers at Cherry Beach. And eventually LotStreetWiz joined us to make it nine.

There was a long, diagonal swell coming in, which made swimming more interesting. The others swam farther and faster, but I did a couple of turns around the orange, temporary buoys.  The buoys were about 300 yards apart, so I did about 1300 yards.

Swimming!

I drove up to Musselman Lake for open-water swimming. As I’d hoped, the water was warm enough to swim in without the wetsuit. For my warm-up I swam parallel to the shore from the beach to a prominent dock and commercial beach. Then I swam part-way across the lake. I was still in the narrow end. I saw quite a few little fish a few inches long, but not so many stickleback nests bare of seaweed as last time.

I didn’t go all the way across the lake because time was running short, so I headed back to the beach. I did more “freestyle,” as the front crawl is called nowadays. I might have done 1000 yards altogether.

map of Musselman Lake, Ballantrae, Ontario

The larger body of water is Musselman Lake. The road at the top is Aurora Side Road; and Ninth Line curves around the east end of the lake, which is where we started our swim. The light-coloured patch where Ninth Line meets the north side of the lake is the beach.

Third open-water swim

Today after work I headed to Cherry Beach for the triathletes’ open-water swim practice with Coach Kelvin of Oannes Swims. I was a little late because I couldn’t find my cell phone when I went to leave work. At the beach, I tried going into the water without a wetsuit but it was colder than last week - cold enough to hurt at first, so I went back and struggled into my wetsuit. Think of putting on compression stockings or a girdle—all over. Our extra lifeguard helped me to get the sleeves up to my shoulders and zipped up the back.

I got into the water and started to practice. Coach Kelvin gave me an orange bathing cap so I’d be more visible in the water. The extra lifeguard kept an eye on our bags.

Open-water swim: Phil, Nick, Kelvin, Anthony, Lynda, Laura, Arthur

The water was only about 62 F. or 15 C. It took a while to get used to the water and I found myself pulling down the wetsuit sleeves to cover my hands more. I suppose there are swimming gloves, too. And when I put my face into it I started to get an “ice-cream headache.” But these things pass. Cold or not, I had to let some water in at the ankles, wrists, and neck so the suit would loosen up and move more easily.

Open-water swim: Phil, Nick, Kelvin, Anthony, Lynda, Laura, Arthur

The other swimmers (Anthony, Arthur, Laura, Lynda, Phil, and a few others) were warmed up and stepping up the intensity but I just tried to keep them in sight. I made a shorter loop than the others. Even so, I swam too fast and got out of breath. I stopped to breathe. This time I was careful not to hyperventilate and I kept moving slowly so as not to get seasick. I got frustrated with my frequent stops and lack of progress. So I switched to other strokes: side stroke and breast stroke, even back stroke. The suit is so tight that it’s hard to do well any stroke that calls for bending the legs.

Open-water swim: Kelvin, Anthony, Lynda, Laura

Then I did a slower lap around the temporary buoys that we use for markers while the experienced swimmers made a much larger loop. That was better so I got a little farther and felt smoother. I did maybe 300 yards altogether.

Arthur brought his underwater camera and took some pictures of the swimmers… so these pictures of me swimming are thanks to Arthur. You can see more of his pictures here: “Swimmmmin’.”

Then I had only half an hour to get out of the water, get dressed, and dash up to the vet’s to pick up my cat Marlowe. At home, I found my cell phone on the kitchen table.

Swim workout July 2

Swim workout in 25-yard pool:

• warm-up: breast stroke 25
• freestyle with different focus each time 50 x 4 = 200
• freestyle 50 + 100 +150 = 300
• freestyle 100
• cool-down: sidestroke 25

Total: 650 yd. (565 m)
Concentrate on: freestyle catch, arm dig, reaching forward, push down, release, even strokes.

Second open-water swim

For the first time this year, the water was clean enough and warm enough yesterday for a lesson in open-water swimming with Coach Kelvin. There were four of us: LotStreetWiz, Anthony, Lynda, and me. All the others are much better swimmers and were able to do things like “go swim around that buoy and back” in a reasonable amount of time. All of us had to wear bright-coloured bathing caps to make us easy to see. Our coach is a lifeguard, and he brings another lifeguard to watch from the dock and keep track of us all.

It was a bit of a struggle getting into my wetsuit and when it was on, no matter how much I tried to let in a little lubricating water, the suit remained tight and constricting. A wetsuit is neoprene foam; it’s supposed to let you get wet, but keep the same layer of water next to you so that your body heat doesn’t get carried away. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. It dragged on my arms. And I wasn’t used to swimming with little foam shoes on. They are very useful for wading into the rocky water, but next time I think I’ll leave them on the dock of the lifeguards’ hut once I’m in.

We start between the tree and the lifeguards’ hut in this picture. We swam back and forth over a 500-yard course marked by buoys.

Anyway, I swam a little but quickly became out of breath. I felt like I couldn’t get a proper breath in the suit. Then I would breathe too hard and feel like I was hyperventilating. If I stopped to rest, I got seasick in the buoyant suit.

swimming at Cherry Beach, Toronto

However, my practice last week at swimming evenly and ending each stroke at the same place helped me to stay on course. I did get around the buoy once. Then I went half-way and back. Then I swam out to where the others were gathered. When I got tired of freestyle, I used the breast stroke or back crawl and I got where I was going, eventually. I probably swam only about 350 yards. But at least I was out there.

open-water swim at Cherry Beach, Toronto

The water was cool but not too cold, so I got used to it immediately. This part of Lake Ontario is sheltered, by the Leslie Street Spit and Toronto Island, from the cold current that swirls counterclockwise around the lake. The water is fairly shallow, as well, and it warms up in summer. I think perhaps next time I’ll start without the wetsuit on and just swim in a bathing suit.

I also found a link for Cherry Beach water quality.

At Cherry Beach, updates based on daily testing are posted on two signs, one by the east parking lot and another by the lifeguard station. If you want to check before going, you can call the Toronto Beach Water Quality hotline at 416-392-7161 to hear a recording with status of all Toronto beaches.

Pictures of Cherry Beach in Toronto:

• a lovely picture of Cherry Beach. During the summer, the dock is longer, so there must be a section that’s pulled in for the winter to avoid damage from ice.
• another nice picuture
• a beautiful and artistic image from a few years ago
• the one with the tree

Swim workout, June 25

This was just a lane swim without coaching. Swim workout in 25-yard pool:

• warm-up: (100 yd. breast stroke + 100 yd. sidestroke) = 200
• 50 yd. 5-position sculling x 2 = 100
• 50 yd. swimming on back and turning from side to side x 2 = 100
• 50 yd. extended underwater dogpaddle x 2 = 100
• 50 yd. freestyle x 11 = 550

Total: 1050 yd. or 945 metres.

Concentrate on even strokes on left and right, proper head position while breathing.

This pool is 17 paces (left foot +right foot) long for me, and it’s a 25-yard pool. The pool at Alexandra park is 43 paces long for me.

Alexandra Park pool

I went for a walk yesterday from Harbourfront up to Kensington Market. On the way I passed the pool at Alexandra Park. It looked like a 50-metre pool to me. Here’s the outer fence:

Here’s the pool itself:

This aerial view tends to confirm that notion:

The pool is open on weekends and after school already; and it will be opening for its regular summer schedule on the 26th. I must remember to get ’round and try it.

Swim workout, June 18

Swim workout in 25-yard pool:

• warm-up: breast stroke 100 + freestyle 100 + breast stroke 100 = 300
• stroke practice with pull-buoy & paddles 100 x 3 = 300
• freestyle 25 + 50 + 75 +100 = 250
• cool-down: sidestroke 150

Total: 1000 yd. (900 m)
Concentrate on: breathing to the back, relaxed arm on return stroke, looking to the side and not up, keeping hands closed, circular hand motion on breast stroke.

Need to: bear down more on stroke.