The odds were stacked against Big Shoulders this year, but our swimmers never lost hope.  We arrived on Ohio Street Beach to strong winds out of the Northwest, and waves cresting over the break wall. But inside the playpen, a glimmer of a chance remained.  The water looked wavy, but not unswimmable to the swarthy open water veteran Big Shoulders Swimmers.  

We saw how badly you all wanted to swim, and we were right there with you.  We got a green light from the Chicago Fire Dept's Marine Unit Chief, but still needed to get a thumbs up from the Chicago Park District Lifeguarding crew.  Then came the news that they couldn't get the rowboats down from Ohio Street Beach, and were worried their guards would be blown to Indiana if they launched the boats.  But, they said, we may be able to do it with a modified course.  

We all pivoted when given the opportunity to swim on a shorter course.  And none of you complained when we told you that, given the uncertain distance and the difficulty in scoring everyone, we would need to shift to an unscored event where you would just get in swim as many times around what turned out to be an 1100-1200 yd rectangle.  Thank you, truly, for being so awesome, friendly, and accomodating.  A couple of highlights of a day that had several and demonstrated that people, and especially open water swimmers, are good, kind people: 1) the person that stopped as he was heading up the beach to assist a woman who was getting knocked around in the waves; 2) the story of the woman who lost her bag with a wetsuit and suit, who had it returned to her by another swimmer.

I know a lot of folks took some amazing pictures and videos.  Please upload them HERE if you are willing to share, and we may post a few.  

Now, for those who are numerically focused, we had 926 swimmers complete at least some of the swim.  It's impossible to accurately tell you who won each division, so we have to consider last year's winner, Danielle Schumacher, as the reigning champ still.  Results are available HERE.

I have a ton of folks to thank, but I want to acknowledge 25 years of friendship, support and the overall awesomeness that is Bob Lewis.  Thanks to my brother, Chip, for 26 years of incredible logos for Big Shoulders and for all of his help this year and last year.  Thanks to Candace Cham, Quinn Wunar, Tory Ondrla, and all who helped supply the food and coffee that fueled us.  Thanks to Al Lavalle and Farmington Foods for the triumphant return of Big Shoulders BBQ.  I saw a lot of smiling, bbq sauce covered faces on the beach! A huge, huge thank you to Ashley Dell, Danny Sivak, Susan Baumgartner and the UIC Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Teams for their amazing support and energy.  

Thanks to Marcia Cleveland, for her never ending font of ideas, for her enthusiasm, and for taking the reins on running swim clinics and the Safety Swimmer program for Big Shoulders.

A big thanks to Big Shoulders Coffee for their generosity and for making great coffee.  Thanks to A3 for donating the caps, and creating and selling all of the amazing swag. Thanks to Swim Trek, who generously donated a trip to Baja that one of our lucky swimmers will take in November.  And we must acknowledge the Alliance for the Great Lakes, one of our beneficiairies, for their tireless advocacy to keep our Great Lakes clean and beautiful.

For next year, we've got some ideas to improve the registration process (and hopefully make it a little less bonkers).  Stay tuned.  There is also the possibility of a 2 person 5K relay, which could be a ton of fun for those who only want 2.5K, but love the idea of cheering on a teammate.  Next year's race is 9/6/25, and will be No. 34!  Hope to see you then. 

Thank you again!