The swimming season’s officially over for Canberra’s outdoor public pools (Manuka and Dickson Pools closed recently) but there’s another pool – aka Lake Burley Griffin – that’s open all year round for open-water swimmers. 

Trouble is, with the swimming season officially over, so is the water quality testing carried out by the National Capital of Authority, so swimmers take matters into their own hands.

Passionate open-water swimmer Anne Gibson brings a glass jar with her to do a visual inspection before taking a dip – if it’s cloudy with blue-green algae they don’t swim but have a cuppa instead.

You can find Anne and about 15 other hardy souls (including founding member, the aptly named Dory) every Sunday morning at Lake Burley Griffin freestyling anywhere from 500m to 2km. Water temperatures vary from 8 degrees Celsius in winter to 25 degrees in summer (current temp is a surprisingly balmy 24 degrees).

Their open water swim may not be as famous as the gruelling English Channel, but if you do a heap of laps around Springbank Island, it’s right up there. In fact, Anne has dreams of one day holding a marathon swim in Lake Burley Griffin, similar to the 19.7km Rottnest channel swim in WA.

For now though, it’s social swims from Yarralumla Beach (locations vary according to boat regattas, rowing races, windsurfers and the occasional Water Police speedboat), and to remain visible, swimmers wear bright swim caps and high-vis tow floats.

There’s no strict season for Canberra’s open water swims, so they meet all year round (what’s the big deal about the Winter Solstice dip?). The only instances swims are cancelled are if the water’s too choppy (a half-metre swell can be hazardous to breathing) or if there’s a blue-green algae alert.

More women than men participate in Canberra’s open-water swim group and the general age is 40+, with a couple of youngsters in their 20s. People of all backgrounds participate, and it really doesn’t matter what your APS level is when you’re in the drink.

“Sunday swims are not about winning any water speed, we’ll stop and have a chat and a bit of a laugh and keep going,” Anne said. “We’ve had so many people that have come and they’ve never swum in the lake before or they’re visitors from out of town that want to join us. It’s just the pure enjoyment.”

Lake Burley Griffin has a maximum depth of 17.6 metres near Scrivener Dam and a mean depth of four metres, with the shallowest part at 1.9 metres at East Basin. Anne said the shallow waters sometimes crept up on her.

“We did a loop around Springbank Island the other day and I didn’t realise how close to the island I was and touched the bottom with my fingers and then stood up. I was kind of like oh, this is great.”

Spinnaker Island is a 1.4km loop if you start from Yarralumla Beach and the Springbank Island loop is 1.6km. An impromptu barbecue on the island is also an option.

“We keep saying that we should have a barbecue because we all take tow floats with us so we can take some sausages,” Anne said.

Apart from weeds, the occasional jumping carp or floating tennis ball, Anne doesn’t encounter any obstacles whilst swimming.  There are sometimes jellyfish (news to me too) but they don’t sting. These tiny freshwater jellyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbii) have lived in the lake since it was first filled in 1964 and can measure up to 25mm in diameter with 400 tentacles.

Anne said there were pros and cons for open-water swimming. Pro: you won’t get stuck behind a slow lap swimmer. Con: there are no walls to push off from. Pro: the sunsets are stunning. Con: you can’t see the bottom of the pool.

“I hate sharing a lane,” Anne said. “People who have only done pool swimming get into the lake and they’re really surprised that they have a different energy. At the moment, the water visibility is pretty good, you can see past the tips of your fingers, so it doesn’t feel overly dark, the light shining into the water penetrates a fair distance. I’ve been doing it for so long that I just love it. I’ll get in the water and I’ll just swim and swim and swim and don’t even think about it. It’s like meditation for me.”

Canberra Open Water Swimmers is on Facebook.