Open Water Practice In Dallas/Fort Worth - Which Lake? (Page 2)

I swim in Lake Lavon at Brockdale Park.  The cove is too small to attract many boats and if you swim within 20 yds of the shoreline you can stand up if needed.  I haven't been out there this year but I think the water level is normal.

Argh.....double post b/c the other one didn't show up. WTH?

Swimming this Sunday morning at Lake Lewisville at Pier 121 before TTT ride. Getting in 30 minutes. Just got confirmation that Todd will be swimming with me and Chris will be our on land spotter. Woo! You guys ROCK! If anybody else wants to play, the more the merrier!

I plan on being there at 7:00 for my wetsuit on dance. Hoping wetsuit fits after my diet of......well, everything and anything unhealthy.

I've been swimming at East Fork Park, Lake Lavon. What's the distance you have marked for Brockdale Park?

The route manager and the Garmin both mark it around 700 yards one way (~1400 yards down and back).  That's based on leaving from the beach on the Southern edge of the parking lot.

As an added bonus after the swim, you can run from the parking lot to Lucas road and back.  It's almost exactly a 5K run.

eta:  There's also no daily use fee to enter Brockdale Park like at some of the boat ramps or campgrounds - you can leave your cash at home.

I'll have to try that this weekend. Saves me a $1.

I'm in...just got my new DeSoto Wetsuit and want to try it out in OW.  Back yard pool just isn't the same! 

Any slower swimmers joining the group?  I've only gotten in about 6 swim workouts since the first of the year...so I'm no speed demon!!

Never been out to Pier 121...any specific place ya'll are meeting?

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Pier+121+Marina,+1481+E+Hillpark+Rd+%23+C+Lewisville,+TX+75056&sll=32.962731,-96.823998&sspn=0.011972,0.033023&ie=UTF8&hq=Pier+121+Marina,+1481+E+Hillpark+Rd+%23+C&hnear=The+Colony,+TX+75056&ll=33.072681,-96.911795&spn=0.011957,0.033023&z=16&iwloc=A&cid=15048700545211125948

I usually take 121 to Leora, left on Lake Ridge, right on East Hill Park, then right before the boat store (if you get to the locked gate where you pay, you've gone too far). There should be a rock gravel parking lot to your left where we park and we will be at one of the picnic tables.

Don't quote me on distance, but it is maybe 200 yds to the first bouy and then there are 3 more that make a diamond and we usually do a loop or 2 and head in.  One loop = 800, 2 loops=1,600? Can't remember......

Don't worry about speed, it will probably be a small group and we can all stick together regardless of swimming abilities.

When she said I would be "with her" that just means I would be in the water at the same time and frantically trying to hang on her toes for the first 200 then giving in and hitting my own pace.

Hope to see you there.  

Lol, whatever....you know how terrible I am at sighting. Any slight speed advantage is completely negated by my horrible sighting abilities. My HIM pace is easy peasy slow anyways. I'm not looking to crush the swim...more like float w/some forward momentum Goal is to come out the water not even breathing hard so I'll be fresh as a daisy for the bike.

That is true. OK, you swim in cc circles around me (aka you think your going straight) and sight off me since you breath left. I will swim straight and we will end up in the same place at the same time.

Are you thinking about going out there on Sunday afternoon (somewhere between 2-5)?  If so, I'd like to join you, just so I'm not out there alone - always good to have at least one other, right.  No worries if it doesn't fit into your schedule, though - this location is right in my backyard, so it sure would be convenient. 

If this doesn't work out, then I'll try to tag along with the group going early in the morning at Lake Lewisville.  The early morning slot will be cutting it close for me to see my son perform at church - maybe it will give me some extra motivation to go fast - I'll need it

ugh!  just consulted the "family appointment calendar"...it appears my wife beat me to the 7am spot this weekend.  The rule is we both get workout time while the other hangs with the kiddos...first come, first serve.  Afraid I have to miss the Lake Lewisville swim on Saturday AM.

Do you all swim there regularly?  I would like to get in some OW practice but really want to do it in a group...as some one said...safety in numbers

Anyone doing sunday morning lake swim anywhere?

Boogie7247 - 2011-03-24 7:20 AM 7? brrrrr   bike is down till next week. so just swimming for me.

I am waiting till 3-4pm on Saturday to swim but will be out at Little Elm park to get my OWS in. At least by that time the air temp will be around 80

se7930 - 2011-03-24 7:22 AM

Boogie7247 - 2011-03-24 7:20 AM 7? brrrrr   bike is down till next week. so just swimming for me.

I am waiting till 3-4pm on Saturday to swim but will be out at Little Elm park to get my OWS in. At least by that time the air temp will be around 80

I would join but I have a birthday party at 4 on sat. see you tuesday?

Sorry you got beat to the time slot. Triple Threat Tough does thier 8 am bike rides from there and a group usually swims before. TTT will also host a supported swim there once a month.

When will the next TTT supported swim be hosted there?  I would love to come out...assuming you will host non-members too

unfortunately I just can't do a OWS this weekend...soccer games, honey-dos, etc have piled up.  However, I would love to join in with a group at Grapevine in the next week or so.  Any groups out there regularly?  Or, any suggestions of good spots?

Well, I will not be there tomorrow morning, as I said screw it and jumped in at Brockdale Park at Lake Lavon today.  I only got in about 1000 meters though, as I ran into some brush under the water about 500 meters in and was a little freaked - decided I had enough practice in the wetsuit for today and turned around.  I'm not sure how far out the water usually is, but it seemed really low today (at least 20 to 30 meters of dry lake bed before you hit water). Oh, and there was definitely about 3 to 6 inches of mud wading out to begin.

This was very convenient for me and I'll definitely go there again, as it was in my backyard, but I'll give a few other locations a try as well.  Growing up on the Gulf Coast, I guess I'm just spoiled and don't like seeing trees coming out of the water where I'm swimming and running into brush and stumps underwater - I'd rather wade out into a non-muddy beachfront and swim along the shore. 

How's the Pier 121 location?  Is it a beachfront? Are there stumps in the water or brush?

Just saw that temps will be in the 40's tomorrow morning. Prob not a good idea to jump in that early. Ugh....stupid weather. It was f'ing warm during my 6 mile run today and now it's cooling down. Just so close to race, don't want to risk getting sick. Ugh.

Anyways, TTT will have a supported swim next weekend on April 3rd w/full kayak support. I think there is a drop in fee of $5 for non-members? Not sure.

Pier 121 is deep enough where I have not run into any underwater brush or trees but we swim about 200 meters out from shore to the first buoy and if you dothe other buoys, they are further out. Not really a beach but shore is muddy and shallow where we climb in/out.

Holy crap! Lake Lavon was a wave pool yesterday! At least the water temp was nice.

Discovered something interesting... I could only breathe away from the waves, so I was breathing every second on the left one way and on right on the way back. Normally, I breathe bilaterally every third and have to fight off seasickness. Breathing every second actually kept me from getting sick...even in the topsy-turvy water.

I did the Champions Tri this weekend in Austin at Lake Pflugerville.  I wish we had a small, well kept lake where we could swim like that one instead of swimming away from snakes at Murrell Park at Lake Grapevine.    

I'm going to swim again next week.  Where is everyone going?  I'd prefer Sunday, but can make Saturday work too.