Swimming

[Bear Up North]

Most of us probably go swimming.....or did when we were younger. We all had different bodies of water to jump in to, to get cool, to be cool, to check out how others looked in bathing suits, to get from Point A to Point B, etc.

This thread, jump-starting the Memorial Day weekend here in the USA, asks fellow-Cyburbanites about their swimming abilities, adventures, locales, etc.
Jump in.....the water's good:

Bear Was Seen Swimming:
Four (4) of the five (5) Great Lakes have covered this Bear's bod with water. The only Great Lake I have not been in is Lake Ontario. Lake Erie is shallow and warms up quickly.....and living on the edge of the 12th largest body of fresh water in the world made it easy to dive in. I prefer to look at Lake Superior and swim in Lake Michigan. Both are very clean, especially up north. Lake Huron is also very clean.

Many inland lakes of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario have also been part of my swim fun. One (1) of my favorites is Lake AuTrain, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. (Lottsa time in that lake! )

When I lived part of a summer in downtown Chicago I really enjoyed the lake and the beaches. People-watching is great at downtown Chicago's beaches.

Out west I have been in lakes in the Black Hills area of South Dakota, in a very cold McDonald Lake in Glacier National Park, in the Columbia River near the Grand Coulee Dam, and in a small stream in Olympic National Park, Washington.

My only time in the Pacific Ocean was some time I spent on the Oregon coast, camped near Seaside. My Atlantic Ocean swimming includes a beach just north of Boston and a few of the beaches in the Tampa - St. Pete area.

Some of the coldest and cleanest water I swam in was located in Vermont and New Hampshire......cold lakes and fast-rushing streams. Great times. Some of the areas of northern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York were also visited by a swimming Bear.

I grew up (part of my teenage years) in the Point Place area of Toledo. Swimming in the Ottawa River (which feeds into Lake Erie) was just a normal thing for us kids. Today it is considered the most polluted river in Ohio. Probably where I picked-up mean ole' Mr. Hodgkins.

And if you are a Toledo area resident chances are you have jumped into a quarry. Many area swimming attractions are actually limestone quarries that filled with water.

Bear In A Speedo - Not!

[abrowne]

I love Lake Erie, but Lake Huron is my favourite (in terms of the Great Lakes).

Back west, I love Allouette Lake. It's artificial (BC Hydro control dam - non generating), fed by glaciers, and best of all: frigid and inhospitable to life of the bronzed teenage idiot girl variety - no giggling morons with cellphones grafted to their heads incessantly talking about the mall at this lake. Rocky beach, little sand.

The Chehalis River in BC is also a favourite swimming spot for me. Again, frigid and inhospitable.

The Coquitlam River is close to where I live and is neither frigid nor inhospitable.

In the Okanogan region of BC I love swimming in Lake Osoyoos and Lake Okanogan.

[Richmond Jake]

Most of us probably go swimming.....

Bear In A Speedo - Not!

Not so fast there....I just got out of my pool (my hair is still wet), but ZG stayed out.

[giff57]

I never learned to swim. I don't mind being in water though. I figure if I had trouble floating with the 65# of fat I used to carry, I'll sink like a rock now.

[JNA]

Learned swim at the Y, swam in rivers, lake, bay and the ocean.

Back when I was in the Boy Scouts; I earned the swimming and life saving merit badges and even did the Mile Swim.

But I will not swim in the Ohio River.

[Zoning Goddess]

Pools, lakes, and beaches all over FL. Maybe RJ's pool tomorrow, if it warms up a bit...

[Richmond Jake]

.... Maybe RJ's pool tomorrow, if it warms up a bit...

Yes you did. But only after I went to Publix to get the ribs I'm bbq'ing.

[Follow the $$]

I once jumped off the Scripps Pier into the Pacific Ocean. It was a loooooong way down! Fortunately the ocean is very salty and my friend and I (sort of one of those dare things) popped up much quicker than either of us expected. I don't know how those cliff divers do it head first.

[Hceux]

Before I was informed that swimming lakes is like showering with water that has poop in it, I've swam in Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, and a handful of small lakes in Eastern Ontario.

Since I've been informed, I've only swam in pools and in waterparks. As for lakes and oceans, I've only waded in them.

[Trail Nazi]

I am in the pool all of the time with teaching water aerobics. I swim too. I prefer water bodies that do not have snakes and man-eating beasts.

[abrowne]

I hate chlorine, so that narrows my options down.

[the north omaha star]

I can't swim. I'm not afraid of the water up to a certain point. I'm 6'7" so at most beaches I can get pretty far out without having to swim. I just don't have the mechanics of swimming down.

[Jaxspra]

I swim anywhere I can...
When I moved to WY and realized there were no pools there I sort of freaked...so I spent some time looking around...swam in Lake Loveland and Mirror Lake up in the Snowys (ughgugh it was FREEZING)
Was a lifegaurd in college at summer camp at the Lake of the Ozarks for 4 years so I spent lots of time swimming there for a job...
I also have canoed (and swam) several rivers in Missouri and I swim (and ski) in the Lake of the Ozarks every weekend of the summer and throughout the week take the boys to any one of numerous pools around...swimming has got to be my favorite thing to do...gotta feelin the boys are going to hate it when they get older

[clare2582]

If swimming means floating on a raft in a pool with drink in hand, then I'm a fish.

Really, though, I can swim. Although I haven't tried in a year or so.

I have a crazy fear of natural bodies of water... I won't go in above my knees, so its just pools for me! Which is fine, I don't need critters all over me.

[otterpop]

I am a river rat. Give me flowing water to swim in and I am a happy guy. Favorite summer pasttime is to put on a life jacket, jump in the river and float downstream on my back, then get out, walk back and do it again.

Swimming in a lake or pond will do in a pinch, but I like water to move. When I was a kid I loved swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Warm water, though murky. As I got older I found it was also nice for a midnight skinny-dip with one of the fairer sex. Swimming in a pool is a last resort.

One of my few regrets about living in Montana is the outdoor swimming season is short and the water is cold. Sometimes I have to swim in my Farmer John wetsuit.

But it is all good.

[zman]

I swam in Lake Loveland

That makes 2 of us... (I DO assume you're speaking of the Lake I work a couple blocks from?)
---------------------------------------------------
My mom took me to swimming lessons when I was a lad, but I have never been really a strong swimmer. I try to swim a couple laps in the municipal pool at lunch though to get back into shape.

I have swimmed in Lake Michigan only
I have jumped off of high rocks into a surprisingly warm Kootenay Lake in British Columbia (one of the BEST vacations I ever took)
I also swam (and survived) in Denver's Cherry Creek Reservior... when the family had a boat. The same reservior that was closed to swimming a couple years ago due to e-coli contamination...

[Gedunker]

I was about 18 mos old when my sister -- on a floating dock --handed me to my brother -- in a row boat -- and I was dropped into the lake. My brother dove in and rescued me out of about 5' of water. Ever since, I've had a distinct fear of being underwater.

I like to go pleasure boating and I body surf. I "swim" with my kids in the various pools we visit. I might be able to save myself in an emergency (if shore/help is not too distant).

I prefer salt water to fresh or chlorinated, but just by a little.

[Jaxspra]

That makes 2 of us... (I DO assume you're speaking of the Lake I work a couple blocks from?)
---------------------------------------------------
My mom took me to swimming lessons when I was a lad, but I have never been really a strong swimmer. I try to swim a couple laps in the municipal pool at lunch though to get back into shape.

I have swimmed in Lake Michigan only
I have jumped off of high rocks into a surprisingly warm Kootenay Lake in British Columbia (one of the BEST vacations I ever took)
I also swam (and survived) in Denver's Cherry Creek Reservior... when the family had a boat. The same reservior that was closed to swimming a couple years ago due to e-coli contamination...

Yep, same lake...went there every single weekend I lived in WY because it was the only place to swim without freezing to death!! And there were boats there so on a MUCH smaller scale I felt like I was back at home

[Pride of Place]

Not really a great swimmer, but I do love the water. Being a child of the coast of South Carolina, the Atlantic beaches near Charleston were where we spent our time every summer. River and pond swimming wasn't much of a passtime where I'm from (too many snakes and gators for my taste).

Hands down the best place I've swam (or is it swum) is the Adriatic. The water is calm, clear, clean and warm. Croatian laws allow one to swim the way nature intended: au natural. No gawkers, over-sexed creeps, police or puritanical hypocrites to make you cover up.

[zman]

Yep, same lake...went there every single weekend I lived in WY because it was the only place to swim without freezing to death!! And there were boats there so on a MUCH smaller scale I felt like I was back at home

Not many boats on there now, for some reason, but cool all the same. In fact, I think I remember you mentioning something about going there... my bad.

[MitchBaby]

Give me the ocean, any ocean, no matter how cold, what animals may live in said ocean (remember, I spent time in Australia - where Sharks are common and shells attack), but in Vancouver, I swim in the pacific ALL of the time in the summer. Its just so nice to head down to the beach, right by downtown, and go for a dip in the water. And don't let anyone tell you its not clean, its cleaner than most of the public swimming pools around.