ILRA- where do you swim?

Trout lake is a lot cleaner (no motorized boats allowed) and has a shallow parameter.  You can swim the parameter if you are unsure of your open water skills.  Please swim find someone to go with you, never swim alone.

Edited by jogo 2009-06-14 7:51 PM

How do you get over to Trout Lake?

Park in the Kent Lake lot, get out of your car and stand with your back to the lake.  Walk past the gate that you see in front of you and soon you'll see a trail.  Walk that about 1/2 mile and you'll soon see a cute little lake with no boats.  You may even see others heading out there. 

AHHHHHH gotcha!  That is very good to know!!

My roommate is going to swim with me.  also, 2 friends are coming to splash around a little but then they plan on just soaking up the sun and reading books... i see there is a little sand area by kent lake, is there one by trout lake by any chance?

Any idea what the length of swimming the perimeter is?

Edited by xcourtx 2009-06-14 8:52 PM

Trout Lake has a mostly sand perimeter, most of it's like a beach. We generally cut to the left when the path splits by the lake. If you start from the east end and swim west toward the building on the opposite side it's between 650 and 700M.

I was there last Sunday 6-7-09 and swam in kent lake (where my first tri will be). It wasn't very crowded and the water was COLD!!!!! I stayed in the designated swimming area because I was swimming alone but I did have a spotter on the beach.  Hope the water warms up a bit before 6-24-09

first open water swim- COMPLETED!  my roommate got called into work and one of my friends woke up sick ( go figure! )... but I still had one person with me... however she just watched from her blanket on the grass because shes lazy hehe.  We ended up at Spring Mill Pond.  I started in the middle of the beach area and swam straight across to the trees ( well, not so straight really haha )... then back and forth again.  Not going to lie, I was a bit freaked out when I got out to the middle and the other side.... I dont know if it was not being able to see anything under water, or no one being next to me... or the seaweed trying to grab hold of me.... or what!  But i wasn't expecting myself to feel so panicked. 

 I phoned my boyfriend to try and find out what the distance was at the pond so I knew what to do but he wasn't very helpful.  After a tiny break I got back in and decided to swim the opposite way and just follow the line of buoys back n forth and stay close to the shore like a baby.  After 32 minutes I called it quits.  So, i'm really not sure what distance I swam, I'm guestimating about a mile via the mapmyride site... but who knows!

I'm alive.  I'm still not sure I'm prepared enough for the Triceratops Tri... but we will see how this week goes!  I'm fine with being the last person to finsh, I just dont want to hold up everyones day if I'm waaaay behind hehe.

thanks to everyone for the info!  I bought a season pass and look forward to returning soon.

Excellent job!  Those weeds aren't fun to swim though - I always end up making my best time when I'm going through them.  I swim out there a lot, so if you ever need a swim partner just holler.  Plus there's a bunch of us that meet on Thursdays around 5:30pm and swim Trout Lake.  For Spring Mill Pond I usually start out at the far right bouy and swim due west past the last bouy, then across the lake to the other side aiming for around the middle - there's a memorial wreath up there that I shoot for, then back to the starting bouy.  That's roughly 480yds if you can believe Google Earth.

I am trying it this weekend...Probably mountain bike inside and swim.  Is this map correct?

The secret of Trout Lake

Map is correct. Two laps around the lake from Kent Lake parking is roughly a 5k.

Edited by Nelg 2009-06-17 12:44 PM

Trout is nice, but I also like Spring Mill Pond. It's smaller, so you have to do more laps to get your distance, but there's a parking lot and facilities there for convenience, which makes it a much better place for bricks. On weekends it's more crowded, which is good practice for actual race conditions!