Weather Forces Cancellation Of Popular Big Shoulders Open Water Race

Photo Courtesy: Rob Dumouchel

This morning’s Big Shoulders 5K open water swim in Lake Michigan was canceled due to rough surf and heavy winds which would have put swimmers in peril throughout the race. Those who had signed up for the race tell Swimming World that officials had hoped the weather would only postpone the start of the race, but winds never subsided, and the event was called off.

Heavy winds and rain in Chicago meant visibility was low beyond the shore, and a few expert swimmers who were standing on the shore this morning told Swimming World that they would not have braved the waters if the race had taken place. Waves were so high that they were crashing over the seawall at Navy Pier.

The event could not be moved to Sunday because the Chicago Bears football team is scheduled for that day at nearby Soldier Field, and sources tell Swimming World that having an open water race about a mile from the football stadium was not feasible on game day.

The event was also to be recognized as the official 5K U.S. Masters Swimming national championship race. USMS Executive Director Rob Butcher said the USMS open water championship committee decided to not have a 5K national championship for 2015 in light of today’s cancellation.

The Big Shoulders event, now in its 24th year, had an estimated 1,200 entries for the 2.5K and 5K races this year. It’s regarded as one of the top open water races in the United States, held every Saturday after Labor Day.

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Therese Fay

8 years ago

No – you don’t want to swim in that.

Mike McGowan

8 years ago

The conditions were no good, but your photo wasn’t taken this morning. No buoys were in the water this morning.
No one from Big Shoulders was a the site this morning, although hundreds of swimmers showed up. The organizers failed to communicate their decision to cancel. As of late afternoon, Big Shoulders hasn’t communicated with the entrants.

Miller P.

8 years ago

Reply to Mike McGowan

True, the buoys were not in the water because the surf was too rough to enter with the boats. Untrue that no one from the event was present. Actually that’s a bold faced lie. Roughly 500 folks were in the Ohio St pedestrian tunnel receiving their gear and updates from Big Shoulders staff. Word of the cancelation was disseminated at 0745. Not sure how you could have missed that. Perhaps you were still in bed?

mike149mobile@gmail.com

8 years ago

Reply to Miller P.

I guess I was wrong, but I wasn’t lying. I was in the beach area among a few hundred would-be swimmers. I couldn’t find anyone who had a clue about the gear distribution, clearly, or these folks would have been streaming into the Ohio Street tunnel. The only indication of organization I saw was a sodden pile of beat-up Dunkin Donuts boxes and a big green coffee thermos. I don’t know how “disseminated” worked Saturday morning. Did Chris Shehan tell every one in the Ohio Street tunnel? I admit, I didn’t linger. The buoys weren’t in the water- I was just looking to grab my stuff and go. Maybe If I’d stood around longer, someone may have come from the tunnel with their gear and more of us would have realized what was happening there. I wonder how many folks were present but didn’t get their stuff? I understand the Organization is mailing it. I also understand the whining, like mine, was almost nonexistent.
I was pretty disappointed in the cancellation, but the failure to communicate via email was silly. All week the organization has sent bulk mailings to the registrants- why not a brief heads-up when they made the sensible decision to cancel? I saw this story at 3:30pm, Chicago time. The Big Shoulders bulk email for Saturday arrived abound 5 pm.

David O'Brien

8 years ago

meanwhile in Australia

Leslie Rowe

8 years ago

We had great weather last week in Chicago 45 degrees ?