Product Review: Barton Springs in the winter

I know what some of you are saying right now, "Are you crazy? I'm not going to swim in the cold water when it's cold outside!"

On the other hand, there may be those of you out there who know the secret, Barton Springs doesn't seem cold when the air temperature is only 40. Not only that, it's free, it's close, and there are a lot fewer people in the water on the weekends.

Actually, it's not only the weekends when there are fewer people. I went to swim at lunch time and realized there are a group of people who all swim at lunch and know each other. How cool is that?... people in this town are so friendly!

My second trip to Barton Springs last week was flubbed up a bit by the trail of lights. Keep this in mind if you head out there for a fun-filled evening of training, you'll have to park at the South Hill lot. The South Hill lot is small and might be filled with people who aren't actually swimming. We ended up parking on Barton Hills but I have some friends who sweet-talked their way into the "full" lot by showing off their wetsuits.

Although swimming at Barton is fun, it's more fun when you have friends to join you. Unfortunately, there are still people who are hard to get into the water. For those people we have three tactics...

(1) Logic: "Swimming at Barton is good open water practice."

(2) Peer pressure: "Everyone else is swimming."

(3) Fun: "If you swim with us, you can jump off the board when you're done."

You may think tactic 3 might not work, but I can't vouch for it, we managed to get Michael in the water that way.

Winter is by far the best time to swim at Barton Springs. If you have a wetsuit it's even better. Wetsuits will help get you into the parking lot, they'll keep you warm, and they'll help keep you afloat. If you don't have a wetsuit, you might consider stopping into the shop in the next few days, wetsuits are 40% off right now. SWEET!

- michelle

PS: If you do swim at Barton Springs, please wear a bright swim cap. It helps others spot you in the water, which decreases likelihood of mid-water collisions.

Product Review: Barton Springs in the winter