I am deadly serious about the first part of this post. Today we had a swimmer that was told our rule of new swimmers wearing floatation (wetsuit, pull buoy, safer swimmer buoy, etc.) for the first three crossings. He was given a safer swimmer buoy and then “stupidly” chose not to take the floatation on his first open water swim. He was a excellent pool swimmer and had been a competitive swimmer. To make a long story short he panicked, and very well could have easily died. Then, I find out later, a youth swimmer that swam the lake for the first time did so without floatation with either her or her chaperon, which is again in violation of our rules.
From now on anyone in violation of the floatation device rules will be told never to return. (Please see the rules below – they have been updated)
1. Everyone participating in Lucky’s Lake Swim should be able to swim 1000 meters in a pool non-stop. This is not a learn to swim event. If you can’t swim 1000 meters in a pool comfortably, don’t swim the lake (even if you are planning only a partial swim).
2. We expect everyone to arrive on time for the start. You don’t have to actually start in the mass start, but you need to be present for the start. If it takes you a few minutes to ease into the water after the lead swimmers have gone, no problem. If you arrive (at the dock) after folks have started swimming you are late. It is hard to vet new swimmers when everyone is arriving at staggered times. Please arrive on time for the start or don’t swim.
3. All new swimmers for their first three crossings MUST have floatation with them such as a pull buoy, wet suit, safer swimmer buoy, life guard buoy etc… (This is not a suggestion it’s a requirement) I don’t care if your name is Michael – freaking – Phelps this rule is absolute. It is also perfectly fine to continue wearing floatation devices for as many crossings as you want (we encourage it but don’t require it after the first three).
4. All new dark swimmers (This means swimming in the dark) must have floatation for their first three dark swims. We don’t care if you are in the 1000K club; if it is your first three dark swims take floatation.
5. All children twelve and under must be accompanied by an adult chaperone and both the chaperone and child must have floatation. Chaperons must have completed at least a double crossing before serving as a chaperone.
6. All swimmers doing a partial crossing (i.e. to the first buoy and back must be accompanied with a coach chaperone) both the swimmer and the coach must have floatation. Coaches can only escort one swimmer at a time.
PLEASE everyone help us police the swim. We’ve got a great thing going here and we do not want a tragedy to occur. If you see someone in violation of the rules or just doing something that you think is dangerous for themselves or others please speak up.
We had 170 swimmers this Saturday. 99% followed the rules (Thank You). Thanks Kathleen for doing the count for us. She’s good.I stood next to her part of the time shouting out random numbers for awhile and she didn’t lose count. Ron you’re a good counter too, but I know that when you run out of fingers and toes it gets problematic.
Water temp was 73 this AM. For those that wanted proof of temp – here it is.
Congrats to Brad Pace who is now in the 200 K club.
Do you have a shrine in your home for Lucky’s Lake Swim? Well you should, and if you don’t Brad Pace will sell you plans over the internet for $20 on how you can build a Lucky’s lake swim shrine in your own home for less than $1000, and if you act quickly he will also include his secret plans – how to generate electricity for free. I think the free electricity project has something to do with naming 100 carp Darryl, but this is just a guess.
For those that have been complaining of a wobbly step ladder, just reach up and sign like Stacy did. There is no requirement that you must use the ladder to sign the ceiling of fame.
If you are coming to the Easter service/swim you don’t have to swim. Please bring your own chairs and blunts to sit on. The service will start exactly at 6:55 am Hope to see everyone there.
Karen Hibbard lost a diamond earring this morning at the lake swim. Anyone that finds it let us know. Ron, it’s showtime.
thank you for requiring floatation devices for our first three dark swims! That almost makes me want to try one now 😉
I was coming out of the water when i heard someone asking for help. I saw he made it back to hold onto the deck. Thank you for having your rules in place and i glad he is ok but is also a good example as to why the rules are in place.
Great post, Lucky! And I’m not just saying that because I want to beat Audrey for “most blog comments”. really.
Lucky,
What you do is an amazing thing! Thank you so much! I want to move to Orlando for about 6 months to a year (preferably in the winter) and cross two times a day. I so much love the open water swimming compared to swimming in a pool!
Tim Coulson – Germantown, MD
1st attempted crossing – July 2007 (thunderstorm scared me away)
1st successful crossing – July 2011
1st crossing the the dark – March 2014
I worked in a hospital while in college and was assigned to the emergency room for a couple years. When people came in hyperventilating it was clear to me that their sense of panic was very frightening and dangerous and I did not have to worry about the fact that they were in the middle of a lake without floatation aid. Over a year ago I helped a female swimmer get back to the shore on the far side, then swam back to the dock to get my car so as to pick up. It was her first swim, and she was hyperventilating. So I affirm the wisdom of having all first time swimmers drag a safety floatation device of some kind. Let’s keep the lake swim safe for all.
I enjoyed my 3rd crossing today. Even though I technically have been at Lucky’s since 2013…I had only done 2 crossings (without any floatation devices because well…that wasn’t a rule then.) Today, I happily grabbed the safe swimmer and forgot it existed while doing my 3rd crossing. Did I need it? Probably not, but I was reminded by another swimmer that panic can occur for anyone, and predicting panic is really kind of hard to do. This is such a treasure in our community. I hope we all can keep it safe and fun by following the rules.
Hi, my son and I would love to take part when we are on holiday in Orlando next year. If I am unable to chaperone him as a first time swimmer is it possible to ask if one of your regulars would possibly volunteer to chaperone him? I will obviously stay with him too and will not let him swim if I am
not confident that he will be ok. I am a new-ish but very frequent OW swimmer and he has joined me this summer (we are in the uk) so he should be be able to confidently tackle the distance by April next year. He will be nearly 13. It’s a wonderful thing that you do and I am very much looking forward to participating.
Usually we can find folks that are willing to chaperone.