Lake Swimming In or Near Edmonton (For Triathlon Training)

There really aren't a lot of great options for lake swimming in Edmonton, so you pretty much have to drive somewhere to get to a place to practice lake swimming.  These are the lakes I've swum at in or near Edmonton (or watched a race at), and what I think of them.

Lake Summerside

• this lake is on the south side of Edmonton, and it is very good, it is nice clean water and very nice all around. I've swum here and it is a really nice lake with a very nice beach
• It is about 800 meters to do a loop of the lake, if I remember correctly
• HOWEVER, it is not open for public swimming, you must know someone who lives in Summerside to swim here, which is a big draw back...
• there is a triathlon here:  http://www.multisportscanada.com/index.php/race-schedule/details/41-lake-summerside-triathlon and they let you come for warm up swims before hand

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Hawrelak Park/Lake

• this lake is right in the center of Edmonton and is the site of the ITU Edmonton World Cup
• HOWEVER, the water is usually not swim-able, they only treat it for this weekend (July 6 to 8th this year (2012))
• I haven't swam in this lake, only watched the race, but it looked pretty nice at the race

Warning about Lake De-contamination process

Lake just before the swim

Warning not to swim here, people were still in the water at Heritage Days

Half Moon Lake

• I did the Half Moon Lake Triathlon here several years ago, it is now the Mission3 triathlon 
• Personally, I like this lake, it sometimes gets a little green but especially once you get a little far out from shore it is not too bad in my opinion.  Others, like Mike, refuse to swim here though...
• I think it costs something like $3 to swim here, though we didn't pay when we went because we were warming up for the race
• it is about 1/2 hour east of Edmonton

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Hubbles Lake

• Great White North Triathlon is held here
• No motor boats are allowed on the lake making it ideal for triathlon swimming
• HOWEVER, there is no public beach, there are times when you can access the lake but it is awkward (https://hlcra.com/About_Hubbles_Lake.html)
• I've always heard good things about the water, but have only watched races
• KK claimed she got an eye infection from swimming in the lake, but I guess anytime you swim with contacts in a lake there is some risk...
• it is about 20 minutes west of Edmonton, here

Miquelon Lake

• the Alberta Challenge triathlon is held here, I raced this race a couple of years ago and it was lots of fun
• Miquelon Lake is a very nice lake, it has plenty of camping, a great large beach, fairly nice water.  It is saline water which I guess prevents algae growth.  
• It is about an hour south west of Edmonton

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Pigeon Lake

• there are several public, free beaches on this lake
• boats are allowed, but there are some roped off swim areas
• it is about an hour and a half south west of Edmonton
• the water seemed pretty nice to me

Edmonton ITU World Cup 2012 Spectating and Triathlon Cheering

Last Sunday we went to Hawrelak Park in the afternoon to check out the Edmonton ITU World Cup 2012. We parked at Laurier Park (always lots of parking by the zoo) and walked over the footbridge, slightly over a mile to get there.  We were unfortunately too late to see the pro women start, but caught the finish and saw the whole men's race.  It was pretty cool to see pros racing up close, very fast, for sure.  The amateurs races had all been earlier in the day.

We got a couple of pictures/videos of the races:

Panorama Shot of the Lake

Before the Swim Start

Leaving the water

More leaving the water

The Swim:


The Bike:


The Run:

Great White North Triathlon Swim Start

Went to watch KK start the Great White North Triathlon last weekend. It was very windy and cold, but as always seemed to be a well organized event.

Here is the start:
 

And here are a couple of pics:

Swimmers warming up

Transition, start line in the background

Mike drinking his coffee

The lake