Ohio OWS temp (Alum Creek)?

Triathlon Forum
1

Planning on doing my first open water swim next week and had a few questions.

  1. Is Alum Creek beach open for swimming early morning (7-720ish) during the week?
  2. How cold is the water? I don’t have a wetsuit, will be fine if I HTFU and keep moving?
  3. Are there any other places near central Ohio to OWS? If so, infor appreciated.

Thanks

2

Planning on doing my first open water swim next week and had a few questions.

  1. Is Alum Creek beach open for swimming early morning (7-720ish) during the week?
  2. How cold is the water? I don’t have a wetsuit, will be fine if I HTFU and keep moving?
  3. Are there any other places near central Ohio to OWS? If so, infor appreciated.

Thanks

Google is your friend…

  1. The beach is open during daylight hours only
    http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/711/default.aspx

  2. HTFU. Looks like high 60s, low 70s.
    http://www.lrh-wc.usace.army.mil/wq/lkcond.html

  3. See links above.

3

The beach is unguarded and pretty much unmonitored. As long as you’re there during daylight hours, no one will bother you. I suggest swimming parallel to the shore juswt inside of the swim area marker bouys - you can practice sighting by swimming bouy to bouy. FYI one length of the beach is about .4 miles so 6 lengths (or 3 laps) roughly equals an ironman swim. Early AM hours are your best bet before boat traffic stirs up the water and things get a little choppy.

Here’s another temperature link: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/.../uv?site_no=03228805

Enjoy.

Edit: Oh, about your other question. The other places to legally OW swim are pretty much the other state parks. Deer Creek to the south, Buck Creek to the West, Indian Lake to the NW, Caeser Creek way south down by Cincy. I’ve known some people to swim at Hidden Lake in Grandview (5th avenue west of Riverside Drive) but that’s a private quarry and you’re theoretically at risk of getting scolded/thrown out (although no one I know ever has been - what are they going to do, come out after you?).

If you’re adventurous there are technically no signs prohibiting swimming at Antrim Park - although I’ve never known anyone to swim there at any time other than during the annual Columbus Int’l Tri. And if you’re REALLY adventurous, there’s a nice deep, clear, quarry in Hilliard at the NW intersection of Scioto Darby Road and I-270 that I’ve always been tempted to swim in - but it’s private too.

Let me know if you decide to take the plunge into either of the latter two. I’d love to but don’t have the guts to be the first. :wink:

4

US geological survey sight has real time water temps, check that before you head out.

mornings are best, it gets crowded past 10 or so in the morning

no wetsuit is fine, i was out there without one a month ago

you can check the COTT website, they swim just off riverside drive on 5th ave