Square Lake Swimming Distances

x2

I swim there by time.

While on duty, do the lifeguards still pull everyone out of the water every so often?  That sux.

Either that, or do this:

At home get a tape measure and measure 10 yds. 
Count how many paces it takes you to walk 10 yds.
When you get to the beach, walk parallel to the buoys and count your paces.
Calculate yardage.

I'm would think most beaches widths are close to 100 yds.

The guards at Nokomis take a break every hour or so.  Solution: swim in the morning before the guards get there.   Or talk to the guards and ask when the next break is to help you time your swim.

If you have a Garmin, you can try the old 'Zip-lock baggie under the swim cap' trick. 

Otherwise, one of the previously mentioned methods should suit you just fine. 

Google Earth does wonders as well, if the lake has reference points identifiable from both air and water. It is pretty darn accurate.

I swim with a group that goes around the lake. We go buoy-to-buoy counter-clockwise. One of our swimmers calculated the distance (with Google Maps or something similar), and he said that doing that swim was CONSERVATIVELY 3200-3400 yards. That's a fun swim when you're with a group (and there before the lifeguards come out).

ALSO....

I was finishing up a swim when they were putting in the rope around the swim area a few weeks back. It was 2 teens and an "old guy." I started chit-chatting, and I asked the old guy how long the rope was. I told him I was curious how long the "swim pen" was, and knowing the total length of the rope would help. He said they had 700 feet of rope. So we both guessed that the swim area was around 600 feet long (taking off for where the rope goes out and comes back to shore).

Hope that makes sense! Happy swimming!!

(p.s. I LOVE Square Lake. My profile pic was taken underwater there last year! [File that info under "useless trivia." Ha!])

p.s. Square Lake was 74 degrees today. GREAT swimming temp!!