Had a race cancel the swim last September because of the red tide but that is something we just deal with in FL. I remember as a kid surfing all day in red tide until my eyes were practically bleeding.

Currently I swim in the Gulf a couple times a week with no ill effects, I also swim behind my house in the bayou that connects to Tampa Bay. I honestly don't think the risk is any higher than it's ever been, just a lot of people in the water and a media that sees and sensationalizes everything.

One place I don't swim is freshwater lakes, too many alligators, pythons and brain eating amoeba.

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"They know f_ck-all over at Slowtwitch"
- Lionel Sanders

As with anything in today's world, the news media is portraying the flesh eating bacteria, jellyfish blooms, algae blooms, entire pods of dolphins dead with skin lesions A LOT worse than it actually is. Yes, the algae blooms was a serious concern last year and killed a lot of wildlife, but it was in pockets, mostly in the southern gulf area around Florida. It did not effect the entire Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, the State of Florida is working on a mitigation plan to help stop the algae blooms in the future. Not sure where they are at in this process.

Just don't be stupid. Do not go swim in the ocean with an open wound. Do not swim in an algae bloom. Do not swim if you notice a lot of dead fish in the water and on the beach. If you are stupid and do any of those things above and feel sick afterwards, go to a doctor and get checked out. Don't try to man it out and later die from being stupid.

I raced this past weekend (and twice more earlier this year) and had zero issues in the gulf. Never had a race affected by any of those things you mentioned. Only strong riptides have affected a canceled swim in the Gulf for me (inaugural IM Gulf Coast 70.3).

Hope this helps ease your nerves...

I don't live there, but I have been going to the Gulf Coast once or twice per year for decades. These things are seasonal and among the many "plagues of the Gulf," as a friend of mine coined. The quick-and-dirty is that these are seasonal, are short term, and rarely occur in the spring or fall when the Gulf hosts races. Other areas, I'm not sure. (Necrotizing fasciitis is very rare and not really a thing from a statistical point of view. It is just that when it occurs, it is guaranteed to get national coverage.)

Last year was really bad for Red Tide. The worst year since 2005. There's so many issues causing this in Florida.

I know of no problems this year. The main impact is the tide. If the tide is low, the water could be knee deep and you'll be running the swim.

Here is the site to check for conditions. https://visitbeaches.org/

Last year I was swimming north of Clearwater during the "red tide" with no issues. The red tide was noticed by the Spanish when they were discovering the Americas centuries ago. It's not fake news and it's not new news.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Mississippi gulf coast beaches have been closed for almost a month. Local sprint tri was turned into a duathlon last weekend. High waters in the Midwest raised the water levels of the Mississippi River and they had to open a spillway in neighboring Louisiana to control the levels, and they kept it open for like 3 weeks. That dumped massive amounts of freshwater into the gulf, which wreaked havoc and I believe that contributed to all the algae blooms. There’s been a lot of dead marine life washing up on the beach. Needless to say, I haven’t done any swimming in the gulf this summer.

I lived in the Florida Keys when I was five and remember seeing/hearing tons of jellyfish at certain times of the year. The water would be pink... or that's they way my memory has it... 40'something years later.

A Tennessee man recently died from necrotizing fasciitis after a beach trip to the Destin area.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Swam in Galveston last Monday. Water was great!!!

I live in Tampa and am from Panama City. Red tide is disgusting but hasn't made an appearance yet after last summer's nightmare. But I've never seen so many reports about flesh eating bacteria as I have this year, and most cases are being reported in the Panhandle. It was always rare to hear about it and it was usually confined to warm inland waters in the SouthEast. This year I'm hearing it again and again, especially along the Gulf between Destin and PCB. On my way to work this morning, I heard about another case from the Apalachicola area. This all follows near record warm temperatures for the Gulf in May and June. https://wgno.com/...warm-gulf-of-mexico/

Granted most of the cases are from people with compromised immune systems; either elderly, former cancer patients, people with diabetes and so on, but the frequency is disconcerting. I would be especially cautious in swimming in the gulf this summer because an "open wound" could be a very small scratch, an ant bite, or something you normally wouldn't give a second thought too. But I would take extra caution this summer and check myself closely before swimming.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to the cooler water temps that usually start late October.