So last Saturday was the last “official” LOST Swim of our 13th year of LOST Swimming.
And, in case you missed it, it was a bit of a crazy swim! The season definitely went out with a bang and not a whimper! The swim was the residual from Hurricane Gordon! The waves got bigger and bigger as the morning went on. But even when we started the waves were too big to get in safely on the beach… so we did what we do on the rare occasions when it is a little bumpy out there… we jumped in and climbed out on the pier! 
It wasn’t a big cardio workout swim… but it was still fun! The key was that the water was really warm, 72F/21C! Rough and warm is a whole lot nicer than rough and cold! About 30 of us wrapped up the season by swimming out to the green buoy in the mouth of the creek… and just rode the HUGE waves! It was great. The key thing here was that we did it safely. Generally one shouldn’t swim in rough water like this… unless you find the right place to swim safely, and with others, and close to land, and have a specific plan. We did… and it was awesome!
And it was a great summer too!
This was a record year, our biggest LOST Race ever (almost 200 swimmers! Up from just 8 in the first year!). We also had 221 members, just off the record number of 222 last year.
But most importantly we had the best year, in 13 years, for swimming! The lake was hot. At least by Lake O standards. The vast majority of Saturdays were over 70F/21C. It was only a bit cold early, then warmed up fast… but most importantly we really didn’t have any roll overs?! We actually had one in August, but it only rolled from 72F to 65F… barely worth noticing. The irony is that this came one year after the coldest summer in 13 LOST years!
Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to all the LOSTies that helped out on Saturday mornings by just chipping in… and all the volunteers, on and off the water, at the LOST Race… and to the LOST Board of Directors!
Next stop… 2019 LOST Polar Bear Dip on Jan 1!
Cheers,
Rob