http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=99890
Minnesota. Land of 10,000 lakes, and laws…
Jamma.
The video is funny. Poor guy. He looked kind of embarrassed.
Pretty cool story. He sounds like he is ready to have a good swim in CDA.
Too bad he has a perfect training spot right there and can’t use it. I hope he can find a way around it. Maybe he should swim it at night so the camera can’t catch him 
Wish I was a putting down those swim times
We are having the same issue out here at the moment.
I’ll try not to rant but- from an open water training perspective, you have to get into a biggish (longer, wider than 200 meters say) body of water to practice the pacing and sighting skills you need. All our local lakes have designated swim areas that are at most 50 meters long.
Me, and another local triathlete, were let off with a warning from the park police officer this week for swimming outside the swim area and all up and down the lake near our homes. So this begs the question-If it’s a public safety issue, why force open water swimmers into the ocean or bay where conditions are far more dangerous because open water in lakes is off limits? How’s my dead body gonna sink with a wetsuit on it? Fer cryin out loud, I even wear a brightly colored swim cap!
Anyone out in ST land have a suggestion for how to get access to lake open water without risking jail time?
Anyone out in ST land have a suggestion for how to get access to lake open water without risking jail time?
What I might do is this: Gather a group of swimmers together and designate a particular time for open water training. Develop a safety plan. Present complete plan to the authorities. “We’re the Minnesota Open Water Swim Club, and this is what we’d like to do.”
I think that approach might be more successful than just asking for a personal exemption from the law.
Do they allow scuba diving outside the buoys in your state? If so, say you are doing tankless dives. That’s why you’re wearing a wetsuit 
This is along the lines of what we’re thinking.
We’d probably have to chip in to pay for a lifeguard’s time but I’d definitely think that’d be worth a few bucks. Anyone have success with this?
Even the news media can’t spell triathlon. Don’t they have spell checker?