Anyone else get sick after swimming in the schuykill? By sick I mean some kind of cold bug. I came down with a sore throat two days later and its been bothering me for a few days.
There are a million other reasons I could have gotten sick, but I rarely ever get sick and I swim in Lake Michigan all the time and everyone in Philly thinks it was the river.
Anyone else think that or get sick themselves?
I had a mild sore throat starting on Monday and feeling a little crappy. Slight cough too There is something going around also but there is a fever involved. I have not dared to take my temperature. The sore throat may be a result of paranoia(sp?) since the intern I sit next too at work came into work with a fever, sore throat, and cough (the little bastard!). I have AG nationals coming up in 2 days so I hope that is the case. But I know my cough is real…
No problems here. And I spent a long time in there 
Steve
I swam in the Schuylkill as part of a sprint last year. The rivercast was red on race morning due to thunderstorms in the days prior to the race, having rinsed down the usual overflow stuff, but aside from that, there were so many geese hanging around on the dock at St Joseph’s where we launched from, that the shore and the docks were completely coated in goose poo. I remember looking down as our wave gathered on the floating dock, the collective weight of us forcing the top of the dock, green with poo all over it, dipping up and down, the river water swirling like a fresh poo tea around my bare feet. I just said to myself, oh well, and jumped in. It smelled swampy, (never mind the taste) but I didn’t get sick: no earaches, runny nose, stomach ache, nothing. I felt lucky, though.
Was that the “Independence Tri”? If so I did that one, too. The only thing that made me feel better there is that they not only had a biologist testing the water that morning, but said biologist was doing the race!
So either the Schuylkill is cleaner than I thought or I"M INVINCIBLE!!! 
Steve
I was there, swam it that day and several other days this spring (further up stream though). I feel great this week.
No problem for me. I snuck in to swim Sat morn before the sprint as well as racing on Sunday and LOVED it other than the pollen covering the smooth water. Oh and almost getting run over by a launch boat that was out with a boat with 8 rowers. Sunday was awesome. If not for all the boats out there I would love to swim in there on a regular basis. Of course there is always that lovely lingering Schuykill river smell.
I doubt cold symptoms would be a result of the water quality. Over a decade ago at a tri in Philly they had us swim the morning after a really bad storm and a few days later I ended up breaking out in a cold sweat during the night. THAT is the kind of reaction I would expect from contaminated water.
-leh
Was that the “Independence Tri”? If so I did that one, too. The only thing that made me feel better there is that they not only had a biologist testing the water that morning, but said biologist was doing the race!
So either the Schuylkill is cleaner than I thought or I"M INVINCIBLE!!!
Yes! That’s the one.
That was my first tri ever.
Probably it’s that you’re invincible.
.
I swam in the Oly last Sunday and feel fine this week.
Where did the swim start from?
I see that this year’s Independence Tri has been cancelled due to the venue being moved across the river.
This is from their website:
Dear triathletes,
We regret to inform you that the 3rd annual PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENCE TRIATHLON, scheduled for July 29th, 2007, has been cancelled. Registered participants were notified of the cancellation via email on March 27th. Refunds will be mailed to all registered participants by the end of April.
For the past two years, we have successfully staged this event on the east side of the Schuylkill River from St. Joseph’s Boathouse. The venue worked extremely well from an event production standpoint; most importantly, the boathouse provided a logical and ecologically sound water entry and exit points for the swim that were conveniently adjacent to a large parking lot that was an ideal staging area for the transition area and post-race festivities.
To our surprise, after reviewing our 2007 special event permits, which outlined the same operations plan that netted safe, fun and successful events in 2005 and 2006, the Fairmount Park Commission and the City of Philadelphia required that we move our venue across the river to another venue.
After conducting research to determine if there was another venue on the west side of the river that would work as a triathlon venue and be ecologically sound, we found nothing that met our standards.
We regret the cancellation of an event that entertained more than a thousand athletes and their friends and family over the past two years. We hope that this advance notification will allow you to adjust your training schedule as your prepare for your 2007 season.
Sincerely,
Dave & Wendy Horning, Co-Event Founders & Producers
THE ENVIRO-SPORTS TEAM
Mark Zenobia, Race Director
On Your Mark Productions