More OWS trauma...

[rocknrollgirl]

In a word...

LEECHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Killer Swans


i don't think anything more needs to be said.....

[Tri Girl]

:eek:YIKES and EEEWWWWW GROSS! :eek::eek:

Is this a lake you normally swim in???

[rocknrollgirl]

I realized after I posted this that it may seem that I was minimizing what happened to Jes. I hope it did not come across that way. I was thinking of her the whole time we were swimming and in fact did not tell my DH until afterwards. I was afraid of freaking him out. Which I did anyway.


So, now back to the leeches. Yes, we always swim in this lake. We do not normally have swans, and good lord, I do not recall leeches, which did not bother the DH at all. Yikes.

[kelownagirl]

You guys are all freaking me out just days before I do my first OWS. :rolleyes::D. There are no leeches or swans in my lake thank god. I could have a run in with geese or tourists tho...

[Wahine]

Leeches!!!! Eek!:eek::eek:

swans, not so gross but definitely a force to be reckoned with.

[Tri Girl]

I didn't think it came across as minimizing what happened to Jes at all (which scares me just thinking about what happened to her).


I would've freaked out if I saw leeches! Yikes! Our lakes are full of water snakes, mean snapping turtles, giant catfish and other lakely creatures. Thank goodness most water animals are very afraid of me thrashing around and they keep their distance. Sorry about the nasty encounters with killer swans and disgusting leeches. Eeewwww!

[OakLeaf]

omg. I can't even watch "The African Queen." So much for me ever doing a tri!

[rocknrollgirl]

Water snakes trump leeches....I hate snakes.

[jesvetmed]

LOL! :p I'll take a little fluid in my lungs any day over LEECHES! Ugh! Swans can be deadly -- they are so beautiful from afar, but look out if you are next to a mad one! Maybe you need to carry pepper spray on your OWS!?:eek:

[btchance]

Oh my gosh - you guys are freaking me out with all the stuff that is in the water. I'm doing my first OWS of the year with some of the tri girls that I've met down here in TX tomorrow, and now I don't want to get in the water. I must keep repeating to myself - it can't be worse than the TN river, it can't be worse than the TN river. Aaagh!!!

[colby]

OMG, leeches?? :eek: :eek: :eek:

Our lakes are totally tame in comparison. We do have weeds encroaching in some places near the bank, which can be nerve wracking when they get thick and you can feel them on your feet (just keep swimming... just keep swimming...). I guess we have trout...

I have to say, the worst are disrespectful wakeboarders and boaters. My husband paddles next to me in a BRIGHT RED KAYAK and some of them cut us very close -- which leads to me swallowing water, and him nearly rolling. Share the lake, folks!

[KSH]

Today I was riding a bike rally... and me this guy were chatting it up... he just got into tri's and said he swam with our tri club 3 days ago in the lake... and he came out with LEECHES on his feet!

YUCK!

There is no way I'm going to be cool with leeches. My boyfriend and I even discussed it in detail at dinner at how we can't tolerate that. NO WAY.

So in Dallas, Texas... we got leeches in our lakes too apparently.

[rbs4fun]

Wow I am fortunate to swim in Lake Mead where the only thing to contend with is dirt and the occasionally SeaDoo and boats. I haven't seen any fish the 5 times I swam in the lake, just dirt on the bottom.

[crazycanuck]

I think i'd rather be stung by a stinger than have leeches in the water!!! Do you have to carry salt with you? We carry vinegar or just pee on the area

Then again, you could be one of the crazy folks that do the open water swim in Northern Western Australia with salties..:eek: THey apparently leave the swimmers alone..:eek:

[Kimmyt]

Water snakes trump leeches....I hate snakes.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e30/azhben/snake.jpg

Here's a little friend I met today at my open water swim... luckily he showed his face after everyone was done swimming and had packed up, but logic says that if he was there afterwards, he was probably there during the swim too!

Edited to say that he looks small in this picture... he was actually about 2 feet long and swimming happily along with his head out just checking things out.

[rocknrollgirl]

Yikes!!! That would be it for me...I mean I really hate snakes...ewww.

[rocknrollgirl]

Yikes!!! That would be it for me...I mean I really hate snakes...ewww.

[jesvetmed]

Edited to say that he looks small in this picture... he was actually about 2 feet long and swimming happily along with his head out just checking things out.

Don't kid yourself... he doesn't look SMALL to me! Yikes!

[colby]

I am happy to report a boring, successful open water swim, sans leeches and snakes. I guess it was cold, I imagine the water was under 60 degrees (F). The lake was high, so I didn't even really have to swim through weeds. I'm just posting to prove that boring swims do exist ;)

[btchance]

Luckily my OWS this weekend was also good, minus the million people out there for Father's day (oops - kinda slipped out minds) and the fuel from all the jet skis and boats, and then all the wake that goes along with the jetskis and boats. Good practice, though, and I'll be ready for any chop that comes with this stupid TX wind at the moment.

Oh, and if I saw that snake you would never get me back into the water again. I friggin hate them!!!

[teigyr]

I think I'm going to do my first OWS of the year tomorrow. My wetsuit is sleeveless so I'm hoping it will be warm enough.

Anyway, I'm already having pleasant dreams of coughing up pinky frothy stuff (I HOPE Jesvetmd went to the doctor?), finding leeches on my body, and feeling things slither by my body. DH assures me the only snakes in our lakes are garter snakes that don't live there but can use a lake as a form of transport.

I think the leeches would be bad. But then again I don't know what I'd do if I had my head turned to breathe and found myself eye-to-eye with a snake :eek::eek::eek:

[Lifesgreat]

I think the leeches would be bad. But then again I don't know what I'd do if I had my head turned to breathe and found myself eye-to-eye with a snake :eek::eek::eek:


One of my tris had an open water swim in a lake which contained an unrecovered body from a plane crash. I kept telling myself that the crash was miles south from my location. All I had to deal with were the tens of millions of carp in the lake. :p