A great day for a swim

I have to admit that I totally missed the boat on this one, because when my neighbors asked me this morning why the area was completely parked up well before 9:00am, I didn't have a clue. (Obviously, I'm supposed to know about these things.)

So I rushed down to the Park where I discovered that all of the hullabaloo was about the 10th Annual Fat Salmon Open Water Swim, a race involving 300 or more swimmers all heading to the beach at Madison Park. Actually it was two races, a 1.2 miler and a 3.2 miler, beginning at Denny Blaine Park and the Day Street Boat Ramp (by the I-90 floating bridge) respectively.

With the Lake Washington water at a balmy 66 degrees (at least at Madison Park beach), some of the swimmers this year elected to swim without wetsuits.

In case you're wondering about where the "fat salmon" comes into the picture, take a close look at one of the race winners receiving the prize:

I don't intend to be caught flat footed with regard to the next major swim race having Madison Park as its destination. On Wednesday, August 19, the 12th Annual Swim for Life Across Lake Washington will begin at 7:30am in Medina and finish up 4,000 meters (2.5 miles) later on our beach. This is a benefit for the Puget Sound Blood Center. More information is avaialble here.