Lake Windermere (England). Lake Baikal (Russia). Lake Michigan (USA). Lake Ontario (Canada). Lake Biwa (Japan). Lake Annecy (France). Lake Taupo (New Zealand). Lake Zürich (Switzerland). Loch Ness (Scotland). Lac Mempremagog (Canada). Lac St-Jean (Canada). All wonderful lakes where great open water swims are held.

Add Lake Argyle to the list.

The Lake Argyle Swim 2011 will be held on April 30th. With two marathon distances, either 10K or 20K, swimmers can do it solo, duo (teams of two) or quads (teams of four) in the 22-26°C (71.6°-78.8°F) water.

Long recognized as one of the most spectacular places to visit in Australia, the Lake Argyle Swim provides swimmers with an unsurpassed outback adventure. The clean fresh water is void of all sharks, bluebottles and ocean waves and currents…but home to over 25,000 crocodiles. Such is open water swimming in the outback.

But it is Barbara Pellick, an accomplished marathon swimmer who has dipped her toes in the English Channel, Rottnest Channel, Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, Lake Taupo and many other places, says, “I have enjoyed the Lake Argyle Swim so much I have competed in it twice in 2007 and 2010. It is professionally run, friendly and obviously has a lot of community support with the much needed volunteers supporting the event so well. I can see the event becoming an iconic experience amongst fellow open water swimmers. The views are spectacular.”

The event began in 2006 with a group of swimmers from the Balmoral Swimming Club in Sydney. Six club members swam the length of Lake Argyle from the wetlands of the Southern End to the rugged and spectacular northern reaches in an effort to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The Kununurra Chamber of Commerce and Industry got behind the epic challenge and assisted the Balmoral Club in their achievement.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source