We are in full swing for the open water swimming season.  The water is fine and the swims have been awesome. There are several events coming up that I want to let everyone know about.
Next weekend in Tampa is the Swim Across America event (May 18th) which benefits the Moffitt Cancer Center.  There is a 1/2 mile swim, 1 mile swim and 2.4 mile swim.  Brooke Bennett (three time olympic gold medalist) will be one of the celebrity swimmers and she is planning on doing Lucky’s Lake Swim later this year – so we are adding her to our most wanted list.  Make sure you encourage her to come on over.

June 1st is the 24th annual Beattie Lake swim and Pancake breakfast.  This is a fun swim an we encourage everyone to attend.  You have time to do Lucky’s Lake Swim first and then make it to Jack’s.  What a perfect swimming day!

Join Lucky in the Flowers Sea Swim at Grand Cayman June 15th. One of the most beautiful open water swims.

July 3rd is our 4th annual midnight swim. Movie (movie title to be announced – it will be gross and scary) will start at 10pm – swim at midnight.  You must watch the movie for the swim to count.

Saturday August 17th World Record Attempt!  (Hands Across Lake Cane)  Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Man of War Swim team (Orange County’s Special Olympics swim team at the YMCA Aquatic Center). We are giving all the funds raised to Orange County Special Olympics. We need 350 swimmers to make this happen, so mark it on your calendars.

All the cool people will be at Jack’s swim. June 1st Saturday Swim at 10:30am, pancake breakfast follows.  561 Via Lugano, Winter Park  407 628 3226

I have no idea what movie might be shown before the midnight swim on July 3rd.

Save the date Saturday Aug 17th. We will be making a human chain across the lake.  We need 350 swimmers to pull this off.  More information will follow in the next few weeks.

 

 

Water temp is in the high 70s and if you haven’t been lake swimming lately you are missing some perfect weather and water quality. We are hitting 30 swimmers on the weekdays and 150+ on Saturdays. No excuses just come on out and join us.

Sam makes the 1000K club. The brass band playing the fanfare is just off the screen to the left. Congrats Sam!

When folks earn their 150K yellow cap, some people weep, some become incontinent and others vogue in the shower. Great choice Sara! and congrats on getting that 150K.

Paul Zicuis is our newest member of the 100K club. Now that this bucket list item is completed he can concentrate on playing underwater hockey.

The Dynamic Duo – Lucky and his son Jake won big in the Hurricane Man 1K open water race at St. Pete. Lucky won overall masters and Jake won overall 18 and under. It’s the first time a father-son combination has done this in the history of the event.

Steve won the 50-54 age group for the 1K Hurricane man swim. He is sporting his rubber duck he got for winning his age group. The wrist bands for breakfast were borrowed from the local hospital. Several folks were concerned about dying during breakfast and not being resuscitated.  

 

Think you have a good reason not to swim? Don’t tell it to Gene. He is back swimming and doing great.

 

 

Well, the lake keeps hovering around the 70 degree zone, dropping again today back into the high sixties.  Sixty + swimmers still braved the chill for todays swim. Eight new swimmers signed the wall of fame.

The April’s fool day post was compiled by Mark Myers – all complaints should be directed towards him.

Congratulations to Jimmy! Our newest 100K club member. On Jimmy’s first attempt, he make it to the other side and had to run back. He said he would never do the lake swim again. Now he does multiple crossings when he swims. Inspiration to all of us. 

Today Ron insisted that Lucky take the coffee water containers inside and wash them out. Always being eager to please Lucky complied with gusto. Enjoy your coffee Ron!

 

 

 

 

The previous post was not mine. Someone has hacked the account.  I don’t know where those photos came from.  I refuse to deny or confirm their veracity. Lucky

We’ve long suspected there was something odd going on around the lake.  Ever wonder about the fitness level of our Speedo clad host?  Are you struck by the classic, timeless manner with which he bears himself?  The curious need wait no longer!

With the help of an anonymous tipster (thanks Don – you’re right, it’s all about the hat), the mystery has surrendered to our scrutinizing eyes.

EXHIBIT A: Utah 1869

EXHIBIT B: Times Square 1945

EXHIBIT C: NASA, CIRCA 1969

 

There’s no doubt about it, he’s been betrayed by his haberdashery and can lead to only one conclusion – Ponce De Leon was right!  The fountain of youth is right here in our midst at Lake Cane.  No wonder the waiver tells you not to drink the water.

 

A very nice turnout for the Easter-Service-Swim and pancake breakfast, especially since the water temp was 68 and still a bit cool in the air in the morning. An amazing sermon from Tom the only pastor in the world that can tie zombies into an Easter service and make it work.  Many, many thanks to all the volunteers that helped set up, cook, and clean up. You guys are super stars!  The best news is that we raised over $1800 for Gene’s Travel fund so he can keep receiving his medical treatments.  Geno who got to watch the service through the magic of FaceTime was greatly moved by the generosity of all his fellow lake swimmers and friends. The Orlando Sentinel covered the service Read it Here.

View of the Easter Service on the shores of Lake Cane.

Thanks to our many volunteers. Those shown are just a few that worked hard to make this a wonderful event.

Thanks to Tom and sons for a wonderful service. Not shown is Charlie who was manning the music in the background.

For those that didn’t attend, see what you missed! The breakfast was awesome.

Thanks to the wonders of Face Time and the random chance (or maybe there was a higher source directing) that Lucky installed WiFi on his dock just the day before, Gene was able to see the entire service.

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! Okay I date myself for remembering the 1966 movie, but the Russians or perhaps I should say Russian did invade Lake Cane. Anton Lobanov a Russian National Swimming Champion in the breastroke swam the lake this weekend. Anton has been staying with Lucky and Jacquie while training in the US the last several weeks.

 

Lucky rewarded Anton for his lake swim by taking him for a memorable American meal at Krystals. John VII and Anton polished off 25 hamburgers, a chili dog, corn dog, chicken sandwich, 3 fries 3 slurpies and they both lost weight. Lord I wish I was still young. Okay I ate a little, but I gained 3 lbs. 

 

 

 

 

The Easter Sunrise service – Lake Swim – Pancake breakfast is almost upon us. It should be a beautiful morning (high for the day 84). Yes the water temp is still a bit cool so some of you might still want to bring the old wetsuit along with you. Pastor Tom says the wetsuits will “probably” not be needed because he is planning such a fiery easter sermon the water temp should rise 5 degrees during the service. Plan on being here by 7AM if you want a good seat and good parking.  Speaking of good seats – that will be as good as the one you bring – blankets to sit on are fine too. Do you have to swim? No, but you will be forced to eat pancakes after the service. Is there a charge? No, but we will be taking donations for Gene’s medical relief fund (Gene by the way is doing quite well with his treatments). Will the hot tub be working after the swim? Absolutely! Can I bring non-swimming friends and family members? Certainly.

We will be accepting no more complaints about the cold water. This is Sinje after returning to her lake in Sweden. Please note: She is not wearing a wetsuit. Cold water swimming at its best.

Now there has been a lot of facebook buzz going on suggesting that this is the lake cane monster. I can assure you that this is not the lake cane monster, it’s much too small. I’m sure we have a few of these in our lake too, but don’t worry they are mostly harmless if they bite you (photo below). Now that we have such good lake visibility you will probably be able to see them coming, so no problem.

If you want to know what a sting ray bite looks like this is it. The world’s largest hickey. This is what happens when you hold a squid next to your jelly roll in the presence of a 6 foot ray. Seriously this really happened. This was not from the ray above but see below.

Just in case you think I could not be stupid enough to get in the water with a six foot sting ray with a 3 foot spike for a stinger.

There are several great open water races coming up shortly in Florida. I have listed the links to the races below. I know that we have several swimmers planning on attending the Hurricane Man swim in St Pete and one of our 100K swimmers Steve Willis is an event sponsor.

Swim Miami  April 6th , Miami Yacht Club  1/2 mile, Miami Mile, 5K swim, 10K swim

Tampa Bay Marathon Swim April 20th This is a 24 mile race and if you are not already registered it is too late (but not for next year)

Hurricane Man Swim May 4th, St Pete     1K , 2.4 mile

Swim Across America  Clearwater Beach May 18th  charity swim for cancer  1/2 mile 1mile 2.4 mile contact Trent Fraebel  727-743-8460    trent@swimacrossamerica.org

Kudos to Jake Meisenheimer, shown here at his first lake swim age 6 (he is now 14 and 5’11″) Jake was selected to the All Tournament Team at the Olympic Development Program 14u National Championships held in Las Vegas last weekend. Jake was also selected to tryout for the US national 14u team in May. He is coached by Randy Walters who does not have his name on the wall of fame, but will be harassed until the job is done. If you have kids 11-14 that like the water I can’t recommend this Jr water  program enough.

OMG!  This is a time limited offer.  Act now before it’s too late!  YCF Underwater Hockey is looking for some new players. If you act now you can bring a friend at no extra charge.  That’s right a two for one special this week and the following weeks only! If you have any of these symptoms consider Underwater Hockey, Depression, Broke, Looking for Love, Not looking for Love, Hate your Boss, Love your Boss, wild exuberance for life, skin disease, excessive gas (actually you might consider another sport, but if you take simethcone before practices we will give you a second look).  So if you have a heart beat you will qualify for this limited time offer.  Don’t hesitate, practices are at the YMCA Aquatic Center Wed & Fridays at 7:15PM. First time players are free after that it’s $5 per session. Y members are free.

We are two weeks out from our Easter-service-sunrise swim.  This is perhaps the most exceptional Easter Service in the world!  Sunrise service (sermon by Pastor Tom Welch- 1000K club member), followed by a lake swim, followed by a pancake breakfast.  How could anyone miss out on that.  Put it on your bucket list and bring your own folding chair or blanket to sit on.  The Easter service will start at sunrise 7:15am so to get a good seat you might want to arrive at 7:00AM.  (but isn’t Lucky some kind of Pagan that worships water druids or something like that)?  – True, but Pagans like Lucky are welcome too, think of it as a celebration of life with  friends regardless of your beliefs, all are welcome to attend.

We are now supplying escort ducks for a small fee. The fee is small because they will frequently swim you in circles (they think it’s funny) and they get bored easily,  leaving you alone in the middle of the lake. . On the positive side, there has not been a single gator attack since we started contracting with the ducks.
* responsibilities* All swimmers contracting with a(n) escort duck(s) are required to clean up the crap your escorts leave on the dock while they are waiting for you to start your swim.

We have a celebrity swimmer joining us Tuesday . Brent Rutemiller is the CEO of Sports Publications, Inc. which is the publisher of Swimming World Magazine, SWIM, Swimming Technique and Water Polo Scoreboard. Let’s all join Brent and his daughter Tuesday AM for a swim across the lake.

Gene had his surgery Friday and did fine. The surgery took several hours, but all that good lake swimming allowed him to weather the storm. You can follow his progress at teamgenechronicles  Gene thanks all the Lake Swimmers for their support and prayers.

Digger misses Gene.        Don’t worry Digger Gene will be back soon.

Alastair Joins us from London today. Says he likes open water swimming in our warm water, but then why is he wearing a wetsuit?!?

George Mann is back! His shoulder surgery went well and he can now lift his arm almost up. When the physical therapists on loan from the Dachau Concentration camp gets done with him he will be able to touch his left hip with his right hand going over his head. His swim went well today (he made two crossings of the hot tub).

Tomorrow is the National Day of Awesomeness.  I hope everyone gets to do something awesome tomorrow!!

 

 

 

We had only seven swimmers this AM which was one of the lowest counts we have had in months, but there is a an interesting paradox. The colder the water the higher percentage of swimmers swimming without wetsuits. At 63 degrees, today six swimmers swam without wetsuits and only one with. I’m not sure how to interpret this finding (perhaps it means cold water swimming causes brain damage that makes you think you can swim without a wetsuit).

This is a great fundraiser idea benefiting Gene who is battling pancreatic cancer. Donate $10 or more and get a cool “I survived Lucky’s Lake Swim License plate holder” You must be on the wall of fame to take advantage of this offer. Just put your money in the jar and take a plate holder. This is located on the table next to the hot tub. Thanks to Dave for coming up with this idea and acting on it!

A shout out to Sinje from Sweden who has been joining us the last week. She is complaining about the warm water in the lake. (she normally swims in lake Siljan Swenden’s 3rd largest lake. She swims at 9pm so she can watch the sunset – water temp 50 degrees) She is trying to get in 25 crossings to score the white caps before she returns to Sweden.

 

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