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As any Lake swimmer or resident — save those few brave souls who test the temperature tolerance of their bodies — can tell you, the waters of Lake Michigan remain quite inhospitable until late July or early August. Gary Fahnenspiel, senior ecologist at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Muskegon, Mich., explains the phenomenon.
“The reason Lake Michigan heats up more slowly than small lakes is due to the volume of water,” Fahnenspiel says. A way to compare, Fahnenspiel says, would be to place a cup of water on a stove next to 10 gallons of water, place the heat on high for both, and see how long they take to boil. The 10-gallon pot would take much longer to bring to boiling, of course.
“Solar radiation is constant on the surface of the earth,” Fahnenspiel points out. “Big lakes have much more volume [than small lakes], so they just take a lot longer to warm up.” He also notes
that it takes much more energy to heat the
water of Lake Michigan than to heat the air surrounding it, which explains why the warm summer winds often betray the temperature of
the lake.
Yes, you can swim in it
Many lake-area athletes count Lake Michigan as a staple in their training regimen, and they say there are advantages to swimming in open water that pool swimming cannot duplicate.
Lara Battallini, director of member services for the Lakeshore Athletic Clubs-Streeterville, in Chicago, started swimming in Lake Michigan as part of her strength and endurance training in 1998, when she began participating in triathlons. Most triathlons involve swims in open water, whether it’s a river, a lake or the ocean. Due to temperature concerns, Battallini typically does not start swimming in the lake until June. “I would say more people tend to get in toward the end of June, beginning of July because the lake has warmed up a bit more by then,” she says.
The area that Battallini and her fellow triathletes swim “is a fairly safe, enclosed area. We swim at Ohio Street Beach. You can swim along the wall just about to the curve in Lake Shore Drive where it starts to curve back west. That’s approximately a half mile from the beach to the curve.”
According to Battallini, the lake is best used for strength and endurance training, not necessarily developing swimming finesse. “It’s going to help you build strength and stamina and help you swim more efficiently because of the fact that it is open water,” she says. “You have to deal with the currents, and you have to deal with the fact that there are no boundaries or lane lines. You have to work on being able to swim very straight and also having the strength and balance in the water to be comfortable.”
It also helps swimmers learn to breathe bilaterally, or to both sides of their body, Battallini explains.
Battallini advised anyone adding swimming in Lake Michigan to their training schedule to begin by practice sighting, or picking up your head from the water to look where you’re going. The lake does not have the same visual guidance tools that a pool would have, such as lines along the bottom. “There are days where the lake is not very clear, so you have to get comfortable with putting your face in the water and literally not being able to see a whole heck of a lot in front of you,” she says.
Battallini advises swimmers new to Lake Michigan to start off slow. She encourages swimmers to swim at guarded beaches and to watch out for boaters who may not be aware of a swimmer’s presence. Swim with a buddy so “even if you don’t swim the exact same pace you know your friend is in the water and they know you’re in the water,” she says. Battallini also suggests wearing a bright-colored swim cap so that beach guards can also be aware of your presence.
Swimming in Lake Michigan, Battallini says, is “actually a lot of fun, and it can be a lot more relaxing than being in the pool because it can be very calming.”
Don’t mess with rip currents
Foaming waves crash onto the shoreline. Winds tussle beachgoers’ hair and knock umbrellas into the sand. A gray sky hangs over the stirring water. Many thrill-seeking swimmers may take this opportunity to brave the waters of Lake Michigan and test their strength and endurance. To an informed swimmer, however, rip currents and other dangers can threaten the safety of even the heartiest body.
Rip currents are caused by storms out in the open sea that cause a large amount of wave action, says Darrell Garbacik, superintendent of Michigan City Parks and Recreation. “As [the wave action] progresses and moves toward the shoreline, heavy waves crash into the shore,” Garbacik says. The wave action then has to find a way to get back out into open sea. As gravity acts on the wave, sand is actually ripped from the bottom of the lake, creating an underwater river washing out to open sea. Swimmers caught in this current are pulled out to sea along with it.
“It is easy to recognize somewhat when these rip currents are present,” Garbacik says. “When there are a lot of waves and big wave action, you can actually see near the shore and just off of the shore the waves going back out. The sand is almost churning and going around with those waves, so it’s this dark-colored wave action that has a lot of sand in it. [That’s] usually a pretty good indicator that there are rip currents in that area.”
Swimmers caught in a rip current should remain calm, Garbacik says, and swim parallel to the shore to escape the pull. While rip currents can extend well out into the lake from shore, they are typically not nearly as wide.
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