Rusty Deblassie has hobbies. Like many he enjoys stamp collecting, needlepoint, quiltmaking and collecting 18th century bottle openers. Rusty does however have another hobby, one that he discovered only earlier this season. Just 10 yards from the start of his first open water race (Milkman Triathlon), Rusty took a big gulp of Dexter's finest thanks to a well placed kick in the jaw. Since these early days, and thanks to a swim breathing style that resembles a fish out of water, Rusty has sampled large quantities of water from all of our lake swim events. He has been kind enough to recount his experiences here and has even devised a "rating" system should any of you decide to follow in his footsteps.....or should I say swimstrokes. These ratings are in no way endorsed by the staff of TT/NM and should be verifed by an actual tasting of the most recent version of these lakes. Without further ado..............heeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrreeesssssssss Rusty!

The lake water will be rated on four qualities: Bouquet (did it smell weird), Legs (water clarity), Palette (how did it taste), and “after consumption internal manifestations” or ACIM (you’ll figure this one out). The ratings are on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best. A perfect score would be a 40 (obviously). For comparison sake a 40 would be like swimming in a lake of Evian bottled water.  

 

We’ll start with the first open water swim of the series.

Milkman Triathlon in Lake Van (May 30, 2002)

Bouquet: 2.5

This water kinda smelled funny since the lake was surrounded by a bunch of farms and that smell hung in the air a bit heavy.

Legs: 1

You could not see anything in this water. Nothing, not even the bubbles that hit your face off of your hands as they enter the water. I at least expected some of the bottom by the boat dock. Nope.

Palette: 1

This water tasted horrible. I drank some near the start and again about halfway back from the turn. It had a slightly salty flavor to it but mostly just really gross. I nearly hurled when I got my second gulp.

ACIM: -0.5

Since I nearly puked after taking my second drink the ACIM factor here was present. Additionally, about 6 hours after the race the power of the water came to bear.

Total 4 points. Lake Van was gross. But the race itself was excellent so it gets a few bonus points just because the race promoter did a fantastic job in all of the other aspects of the race. So adjusted overall is 8 points total. Definitely do the race next year. 

 

Buffalo Springs Lake Half Ironman in Buffalo Springs Lake (June 30, 2002)

Bouquet: 5

The water did not smell too bad. In fact it smelled just like an average lake. The down side to the smell of the lake was that it had a slightly petroleum smell to it.

Legs: 4

You could not really see in the water too well, but you could at least see to about your wrist. You definitely could not see the person swimming in front of you.

Palette: 4

The water did not taste all that bad. But it had the oily and metallic taste to it.

ACIM: 4

I drank the water after the third buoy heading toward the backstretch and nearly lost my breakfast Powerbar immediately after. However, I did not experience any during or after race internal manifestations. Good recovery.

Total 17 points. Again it too was a very well organized race. 4 bonus points. Adjusted overall is 21 points. 

 

Bottomless Lakes Triathlon in Bottomless Lake (July 13,2002)

Bouquet: 8

The water did not smell like much of anything.

Legs: 8

This water was clear except near the beach where a lot of sand was getting kicked up. In the open it was excellent. You could see at least two or three swimmers in front of you.

Palette: 7

The water had a salty flavor to it close to the beach. Out in the middle, the saltiness was still there but not as strong.

ACIM: 5

I drank the water at the beginning of the swim and again about half way back after the turn. I had to stop and hold it in on the first drink, but my nerves might have been factored into it.

Total 28 points. Good overall race promotion so it too gets 4 bonus points. Total adjusted score is 32 points. 

 

Las Vegas Triathlon in Storrie Lake (July 28, 2002)

Bouquet: 5

The water had a slightly “fishy” smell to it. Generally smelled like a lake should.

Legs: 3.5

You really could not see anything in this lake. You could barely see to your wrist.

Palette: 5

This water did not taste too bad. It had a kinda “dirt” taste to it. Probably from the recent rains

ACIM: 4

I drank my water as I was passing the first buoy. I had to contain it so the factor was here as well. I did not have any manifestations later in the race or later in the day as well. Nice recovery.

Total 17.5 points. Again it was a very well organized race so it too gets bonus points, however it only gets 3 bonus points because there were not very many aid boats in the water (I’m not the only one who noticed this). Total adjusted score is 20.5 points. 

 

Total Scores

1. Bottomless Lake
2. Buffalo Springs Lake
3. Storrie Lake
4. Lake Van.

By far Lake Van was the worst lake. However, it is an excellent race for the first time open water racer. The lake is shallow (you can stand up all the across), the water gives you a taste (no pun intended) of the worst possible swim water (everything is better), and it is organized extremely well. All joking aside, all of these races are some of the best in the region (and the country from what I’ve been told). They are perfect examples of how races should be promoted. Next year when you do these races thank the promoters for putting the races on. One other Note, I do not think that any race will ever get a perfect 40 for the swim unless someone wants to build a big giant concrete lake and fill it with Evian. 

 

Have fun and keep the rubber side down.