Tuesday, June 16th, 2026
Hello Kal Lake Swimmers:
With a cloudburst clearing out Juniper Beach ninety minutes earlier, sunshine and calm(er) water greeted Phred, Alison, Sean and me for our inaugural afternoon swim yesterday. My thermometer read 18.2 degrees at the beach, warm enough for me to join Sean and Phred swimming naked. Alison elected to stay warmer in a wetsuit. FYI for World Aquatics Open Water Swims, the rule is that wetsuits are banned if the water temperature is 18 degrees or higher. They are mandatory if the temperature is under 18 degrees. We will be following this protocol at our sanctioned open water swim in Penticton on July 26th.
After considerable lollygagging at the beach, the four of us set out to the Point enjoying the rippled water conditions. Another gabfest ensued before agreeing to swim to the Painted Rocks. There we checked out the condition of our painted memorial to Craig Goplen. Phred had carried his two thermometers with him on the swim so we checked them out. One read 17 degrees while the other read 18.5 degrees (neither very accurate).
One of the thermometers had a winged horse decoration so we thought about calling it Pegasus. It also had a bump on its head like a Unicorn, so we decided to call it Pegacorn (it sounded cuter than Unisus).
On the swim back to the beach we appreciated the calmer water on the Juniper Bay side. As this was my first naked swim, I also appreciated the intermittent sunshine on my back and shoulders.
We will do this again on Thursday at 5:30pm right after we finish cheering for Canada as they play Qatar in the World Cup. Hats off to FINA for scheduling the game around our swim!
One thing that I noted on my walk to the beach from the parking lot yesterday was that everyone who passed me in the other direction said hi or gave some sort of greeting. One of the great things about living here!
Cheers,
Mike
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