OWS sites in Western Washington

i swim at idylewood park on lake sammamish - it is probably 4 miles from downtown bellevue?  google it to see the location.  by mid june - in the mornings, there will be between a couple and 15 triathletes OWS.  the only thing that i ahve heard, is they do have a lifeguard on duty for the swimming area from something like 11 am to 8 pm during the summer, and apparently they will come out in kayak's and harass you if you are swimming out of the designated swimming area (which is small). 

there are buoys to swim to, and boats aren't supposed to come in side of them.  i think from one side to the other and back is a little over .25 miles. 

depending on how far you want to go, Pine lake in Issaquah/Samamish area is a nice lake to swim in. you can also swim at Lake Samamish state park. Alternately you could look into swimming at Seward park on lake washington which is just a bit south of I-90 in Seattle, easy to get too. I am not really familiar with the lakes farther north or east though but I am sure someone will chime in with some ideas.

Maybe I am not that particular or experienced?

I live near Marysville/Stanwood.
I have swam (for training) in Lake Goodwin, Lake Ki, Lake Stevens, Lake Sammamish.

I prefer smaller, less crowded lakes and usually swim from a public park beach and keep my swimming close to the shore to keep away from boats.  I prefer swimming with a buddy but that doesn't alway happen.

Not sure if that helps, but all but Lake Sammamish are much closer to you for the north end lakes.
Michael

I live north of Lake Stevens--the city and the lake both.  Guess the lake is OK--it's the site of the half ironman tri this summer and also a sprint and Olympic tri in September. It has different swim beaches to chose from--west/south/east side.

Tis the time of year... OWS questions....

You can get a lot of experience swimming with other at Idylwood if you are there between 6-7:30am... ESPECIALLY ON FRIDAYS!!! Big groups go there....

Up north you should really check out Marth Lake, or Silver Lake... Both in Everett w/ no motorboats allowed on them.

I prefer Martha out of those 2, but my favorite spot is PINE LAKE!!! Hands down!

Flowing, Storm and Panther are just outside of Snohomish and are fine for swimming. Panther and Storm have rules agains boat motors. Bosworth isn't far and is good too with no motors allowed.  I've been thinking about Lake Tye in Monroe too. I've thought of tying a balloon to my waist for Lake Stevens OW swimming (lots of boats). However after 10 am there is a no wake speed limit in the cove (far east finger of the lake)

I swam in Lake Bosworth twice last summer.  Loved it!  But it's quite a drive out there if you're coming from Everett or other areas.  I live three miles west of the city of Granite Falls, and it's a 20-minute drive from my house.  Which makes Lake Stevens closer for me...which I'm going to try soon, hopefully.

I live about 3 miles SW of Lake Bosworth. Its a fast trip for me. Nice clean water.