Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/320028
JUNE / JULY 2014 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | 29 O P E N WAT E R A H E A D OPEN WATER AHEAD E X P E R I E N C E T H E A L L U R E O F L A K E WA S H I N G T O N W O R K O U T S AN EAGLE SOARS ABOVE, searching for breakfast. Is that the drill of a pileated woodpecker? Ahoy! A silver-scaled fish splashes out and then back into the water, ripples marking its descent. It's just another morning on Lake Washington, except on this day a group of WAC open-water swimmers is noiselessly crawling across the surface, as much a part of the landscape as the pair of mallards sleeping shoreside. Open-water swimmers, those intrepid athletes and fitness buffs who appreciate the challenges of water of the non-chlorinated type, have long been found among WAC members. But organized group swims only began in earnest about a dozen years ago, when triathlon coach Julie Vieselmeyer scheduled a Friday morning workout for members training for competitive open-water events. ➤ WAC Tri/Cycle Club members enjoyed sunny skies during the first open-water swim of the season in May. PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS JOSEPH KALINKO