The idea of an escort craft is great! Thanks Jonathan and Kitty. I'll pass that idea along to the swimmers and arrange a meeting between reps of the swim group and the head of the security detail to explore an official sanction of an escorted swim along the shoreline.
dee
-----Original Message-----
From: Kitty Lozier <clozier@gmail.com>
To: Jonathan Rosenbaum <freesource@cheat.org>
Cc: Dee Fulton <dfvet@aol.com>; CLEAR <CLEAR@cheat.org>
Sent: Sun, Jun 3, 2012 2:18 pm
Subject: Re: [CLEAR] Swimming group incident
Dee, I went to a swimming camp in Canada as a camper and a counselor when i was young. We had long open swims occasionally out into the lake, but always had canoes along with us. When we trained we were along the shore in the early morning, back and forth in a particular path. Kitty
On Sat, Jun 2, 2012 at 12:21 AM, Jonathan Rosenbaum <freesource@cheat.org> wrote:
Being an open water swimmer myself, I can confirm that danger from
heavy boat traffic is a valid concern especially if you are swimming
across a lake. There are a few solutions. The swimmers could train
early in the morning before significant boats traffic begin, and
they could have a person sitting on an escort boat performing
look-out duty.
If neither isn't possible, they should swim close to the shoreline.
However, even experienced open water swimmers can loose their
bearings and unknowingly stray farther out. This is why having some
kind of lookout is prudent, even if that lookout is walking along
the trail shouting out to the swimmers.
-Jonathan
On 5/31/2012 11:30 PM, Dee Fulton wrote:
Hi all. On Wednesday
evenings, a small group of swimmers have been meeting at
Millstone Point Beach and swimming distances in the lake as
part of their training for triathlons. I know of this group
because I made the acquaintance of one of the swimmers while
we were both doing physical therapy at Healthworks.
Anyway, last
Wednesday I was at the park and trail prepping for the
nature walk and I spoke with the guard, Tom. Tom told me
that he had encountered this group and told them that they
could not be swimming where they were, which was toward the
dam on the east side of the lake.
Any comments?
Suggestions? I'd like this group to be able to continue
their training, but there is a concern for their safety
amongst boat traffic.