In the build-up to the Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km at the 2012 London Olympics, American television viewers will probably hear a bit about Walden Pond, one of the open water training locations for world champion Alex Meyer.

The Harvard graduate occasionally trains at the famous waterhole in Concord, Massachusetts where many other open water swimmers and triathletes of all ages and abilities also take to its tranquil waters.

If you also find your way to Boston, there are plenty of places to swim, events to take part in and people to swim with all year round.

Some of the open water swimming events in the Boston area include the Narrow River Turnabout Swim, the Charles River One Mile Swim, Swim Across America’s Nantasket Beach Swim, Swim Across America’s Boston Harbor Swim and the New Year’s day L Street Brownies Polar Bear Swim.

You can meet people who do open water swimming at the Charles River Swimming Club, the L Street Brownies Club, the 1,800-member New England Masters Swim Club, the Cambridge Masters Swim Club, and the Nahant Knuckleheads, although there are also many more triathlon clubs and masters swimming clubs in the area.

Two safe ocean locations to swim that have lifeguards and public beach access include Plum Island and Nantasket Beach where Captain Matthew Webb swam in his visit to America. Walden Pond is a fresh water alternative with a weekly loosely organized swim called Walden Wednesdays.



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