HEARTFELT WISHES for the safety, protection, and quick recovery of all those affected by the devastating flooding in the Highland Lakes area.
MANY THANKS to all of you who offered encouragement and patiently stood by as we navigated these new waters the last couple days. We hate that the 15th Annual Lake Travis Relay had to be cancelled. This is a first for us after 130+ open water events over the last 15 years. We’re thankful, however, none of us were caught in any unexpected situation on the water. We appreciate your support of our events and will look forward to seeing you on land or in the water soon.
10/18 — FINAL UPDATE
Unfortunately, our alternate plan to create another open water swim for you is off thetable. We pursued 4 different bodies of water: Pure Austin Quarries, Quarry Lake Hyde Park, and Walter E. Long (Decker) — none of which we were able to acquire approval or permitting.
We did get approval to use the 4th venue: Lake Pflugerville, and just returned from scouting it out. Hydrilla was our initial concern but after being onsite additional conditions — water temp 60º (expected high 50’s by Saturday) prediction of 56-66 air temps, no shelter, windy area, no showers — cause us to deem this venue unsafe at this time for an open water relay type swim.
10/18 — Update on other OW Swim opportunity
In order to accommodate those who have made arrangements to come from a distance and/or those who would still look forward to a fun open water swim experience, we are working to offer an opportunity to swim , a relay-style open water swim in a local (non-flooding) lake, at no charge to LTR entrants. We should know the feasibility of this effort, relative to lake conditions and permitting, early this afternoon.
Re: Refunds
As much as we wish we could front everyone, this event began a long time ago relative to planning, effort, costs, etc. We do our best to make it happen — rain or shine. Our policy follows standard protocol for events such as this.
10/17 — The LAKE TRAVIS RELAY has been cancelled due to historic flooding of the Highland Lakes :(
This is not a simple situation for sure. It has all happened so fast. It would have been much easier, of course, to cancel this event upon first hearing that, due to uncontrollable forces of nature, the lake was closed to recreational use. It was only Tuesday, however, that flooding in the upper lakes occurred. We learned that afternoon that the entire lake chain was closed, yet we also heard that the lake could re-open on Thursday. This was encouraging.
Predicting what the lake would be like on Saturday was our big task.
With respect to flood victims, on Wednesday (as video insight of the traumatic flood damage was going viral) we physically explored the course & had numerous parking lot chats with lakeside vendors. At that time the lake course area itself was surprisingly super calm, clear and swimmingly inviting. In past weather events we've experienced lakes clearing out in a matter of days after flooding so at that point Wednesday afternoon the race actually seemed a possibility.
However, after speaking with those really "in-the-know" late today (Wed) it became obvious that the lake was not going to reopen in a day or two. Marinas are out of action, electric junctions are submerged, and recreational boats & swimmers are not allowed on the lake in order to allow homes to drain without windows breaking from boat wakes. There is much unseen damage and many repairs to be done.
Clearly, unfortunately, and with much regret, we are forced out of Lake Travis by Mother Nature. Our best wishes go out to the lake businesses and residents who have lost so much and will take a while to get back to a new normal. While our own deck sits under 20-25 feet of excess water (and we are very grateful it's not our home) we have realized the expense and time it takes to rebuild & recover from something like this.
MANY THANKS to all of you who offered encouragement and patiently stood by as we navigated these new waters the last couple days. We hate that the 15th Annual Lake Travis Relay had to be cancelled. This is a first for us after 130+ open water events over the last 15 years. We’re thankful, however, none of us were caught in any unexpected situation on the water. We appreciate your support of our events and will look forward to seeing you on land or in the water soon.
10/18 — FINAL UPDATE
Unfortunately, our alternate plan to create another open water swim for you is off thetable. We pursued 4 different bodies of water: Pure Austin Quarries, Quarry Lake Hyde Park, and Walter E. Long (Decker) — none of which we were able to acquire approval or permitting.
We did get approval to use the 4th venue: Lake Pflugerville, and just returned from scouting it out. Hydrilla was our initial concern but after being onsite additional conditions — water temp 60º (expected high 50’s by Saturday) prediction of 56-66 air temps, no shelter, windy area, no showers — cause us to deem this venue unsafe at this time for an open water relay type swim.
10/18 — Update on other OW Swim opportunity
In order to accommodate those who have made arrangements to come from a distance and/or those who would still look forward to a fun open water swim experience, we are working to offer an opportunity to swim , a relay-style open water swim in a local (non-flooding) lake, at no charge to LTR entrants. We should know the feasibility of this effort, relative to lake conditions and permitting, early this afternoon.
Re: Refunds
As much as we wish we could front everyone, this event began a long time ago relative to planning, effort, costs, etc. We do our best to make it happen — rain or shine. Our policy follows standard protocol for events such as this.
10/17 — The LAKE TRAVIS RELAY has been cancelled due to historic flooding of the Highland Lakes :(
This is not a simple situation for sure. It has all happened so fast. It would have been much easier, of course, to cancel this event upon first hearing that, due to uncontrollable forces of nature, the lake was closed to recreational use. It was only Tuesday, however, that flooding in the upper lakes occurred. We learned that afternoon that the entire lake chain was closed, yet we also heard that the lake could re-open on Thursday. This was encouraging.
Predicting what the lake would be like on Saturday was our big task.
With respect to flood victims, on Wednesday (as video insight of the traumatic flood damage was going viral) we physically explored the course & had numerous parking lot chats with lakeside vendors. At that time the lake course area itself was surprisingly super calm, clear and swimmingly inviting. In past weather events we've experienced lakes clearing out in a matter of days after flooding so at that point Wednesday afternoon the race actually seemed a possibility.
However, after speaking with those really "in-the-know" late today (Wed) it became obvious that the lake was not going to reopen in a day or two. Marinas are out of action, electric junctions are submerged, and recreational boats & swimmers are not allowed on the lake in order to allow homes to drain without windows breaking from boat wakes. There is much unseen damage and many repairs to be done.
Clearly, unfortunately, and with much regret, we are forced out of Lake Travis by Mother Nature. Our best wishes go out to the lake businesses and residents who have lost so much and will take a while to get back to a new normal. While our own deck sits under 20-25 feet of excess water (and we are very grateful it's not our home) we have realized the expense and time it takes to rebuild & recover from something like this.
