In October I was in Orlando, Florida attending a conference for work. Whenever I travel I always make a plan to either swim with a local masters swim team or run. While in Orlando I visited the local YMCA on International Boulevard. It is an incredible facility. That evening I swam with Team Orlando. After, I asked the coach about an open water swim that I read about on the Internet. He said Lucky's swim was well worth it.
The next morning I got up at 6:00 am and made my way down to the swim. It was a few miles from where I was staying. I found the address just as described and found the automatic gate. It opened and I drove in. The web site said to park in the drive way. I found a spot and got out of my van. All the rental car place had left was a big purple van so I probably looked like a kook showing up in that. On the particular morning I was there the air temperature was about 42 degrees which happened to be the coldest day in Orlando in almost 100 years. At about 6:20 am it was very dark. I was immediately greeted by a barking dog. However, the dog turned out to be friendly. I stated to walk down to the water and was greeted by a few swimmers. I asked then if I was in the correct place and I was. They said I had picked a hell of a day for the swim
in that it was so cold. However, the water temperature was a nice 72 degrees.
The swimmers were all friendly and wanted to get in the water fast. I think that there were about 6. They
told me “see that yellow light out there” I said “yes” and they said “you want to swim just to the left of it and you will see a white boat dock, you will want to turn around there.” I said “ok” and jumped in after them. Ah, the water was nice and warm. About two minutes into the swim I began to think, what the heck am I doing swimming in a Florida lake, that could have alligators, in the dark, with a bunch of strangers? Well, I though to myself I best not think about things like that now, I just need to enjoy this open water opportunity. I was able to swim in a straight line hit my target the white boat dock. There I saw other swimmers turn around. I took a few minutes, chatted with another swimmer and they pointed me to the light to swim back towards as it was still very dark. I made it back to the other side. I must say that my main concern about swimming in the dark was that I would hit another swimmer going the other way. Upon reaching the other side a fellow named George said “Are you only going to do one lap?” How could I say no to that kind of
pressure, especially from the fastest 71 year old I have ever seen. So I went for lap two. This time the sun was rising and I did not have the yellow light to guide my way and I found myself way off course. I corrected and found the white boat dock. I was able to sight the swim back easily.
When I got out of the water I got to sign the wall of fame. Anyone who finishes the swim gets to sign the wall and Lucky also gives you a really cool patch. If you do multiple crossings you can get all kinds of other items to commemorate your achievements. While I was in Orlando I was only able to swim on two days and complete 4 crossings. I only need 21 more crossings to get the swim cap. The swim takes place year round Monday through Friday at 6:30 am. However, there is a Saturday swim that can attract quite the crowd. Lucky said that there can be over 100 swimmers.
In conclusion, if you ever find yourself in Orlando for any reason you have to do this swim. It is quite the adventure! Lucky and all the fellow swimmers will make you feel very welcome. They are gracious hosts and I must say the hot tub on the particular mornings when I was there hit the spot.
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