Winter wild free swimming begins

 

Next Swims: generally, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Sat, and Sunday noon, weather and people dependent. Mornings still happening? Post for inquiries. 

Last Swim: Sun noon

Water temp: high 30's F. per Itch-o-meter

Air Temp: low 20's F.

Water Quality: 2- 3 foot rollers

Clarity: clear as a bell and cold as hell

Kru: Brick, Diablo, Fin Fin, Itch, Moondaug.

The winter swimming season is now indeed underway. Itch, Brick, and Fin Fin suited up and swam to rock wall. Diablo Wim Hoffed for a good few minutes and I polar beared. Conversations were-why does Itch swim slower in a wet suit in the winter time, and the recent court case that could determine free beach access in the state to the public. 

Several slow wet suit theories theories were postulated. Cold water may constrict the wet suit material reducing arm cycle flexibilty. Buoyancy also may be effected I would think as the material constricted. Or maybe Itch is just trying to convince us it's not his fault for staying out so long and freezing our patoot's off. Additional theories welcome. 

Apparently a property owner off Atwater beach wants to shoo people off the beach just down from his home. And the court case is pending. Syncro and I attended. Neighbors and community have walked the shoreline for decades and all the neighborhood peoples I have talked with said they always understood it to be a right to do so. Protected in the State Constitution under the Public Trust Doctrine the public is understood to have access to navigate all waterways, up to the Ordinary High Water Mark, which usually leaves some room for walking. Of concern to swimmers especially is needing to exit the water for cases of emergency situations such as lightning and cramping up, ect. Towards the end of the 4 hour packed court case the judge( Shorewood Municipal), said she would decide (by the end of the month) for the beach walker if she accepted his interpretation that walking is a form of navigation. The village attorney argued that the legal definition of navigation is over water and walking is not specifically mentioned. Anyone know the history of horse boating and ice harvesting here? I wonder if that could be relevant.

The Outside Swimming Society of England lobbies for free access to nature including enshrined access to water. They recommend and I agree (at least as far as the Ordinary High Water Mark to the waters edge) with The Scottish Outdoor Access Code. 

“There are so many more reasonable and responsible examples of how the public could access nature, from Norway to Scotland to Estonia, that benefit not just public mental and physical health, but that are demonstrably proven to benefit nature as well,” says Nick Hayes, author of the Book of Trespass.

"Under Scots law everyone has the right to be on most land and inland water for recreation, education and going from place to place providing they act responsibly. The basis of access rights in Scotland is one of shared responsibilities, in that those exercising such rights have to act responsibly, whilst landowners and managers have a reciprocal responsibility to respect the interests of those who exercise their rights. The code provides detailed guidance on these responsibilities.

Access rights apply to most land regardless of whether it is owned by the state, private individuals, companies, or voluntary and charitable bodies. The rights covers any non-motorised activity, including walking, cycling, horse-riding and camping, and also allow access on inland water for canoeing, rowing, sailing and swimming."-OSS.

Brief history lesson-Despite the words freedom and liberty having similarities in early uses implying power of choice, an ability to exercise one's will, and a condition that was distinct from slavery, there were still differences. 

The word " freedom" derives from a large family of ancient languages in northern Europe. The English word "Free" is related to the Norse "fri", the German "frie", the Dutch "vrij", the flemish "vrig". The Celtic "rheidd", and the Welsh "rhydd". All descended from the Indo -European "priya" or "friya", or "riya", which meant dear or beloved. The English words freedom and free have the same root as friend, as do their German cousins "frei, " and " Freund". Free meant someone who was joined to a tribe of free people by ties of kinship and rights of belonging. 

Liberty has another origin. The word "liberty" came from the Latin word "libertas" and its adjective "liber", which meant unbounded, unrestricted, and released from restraint. A synoynm was "solutus", from the verb "solovo", to loosen a set of bounds. The Roman "libertas" always implied some degree of separation and independence.

In that respect, the original meanings of freedom and liberty where not merely different, but opposed. Liberty meant separation. Freedom implied connection. A person with libertas in Rome had been granted a degree of autonomy, unlike a slave. A person who had freiheit in northern Europe was united by kinship or affection to a tribe or family of free people, unlike a slave. 

In ancient Rome, most people were born in a condition of prior restraint. Liberty implied inequality. The free born people of Northern Europe were alike in their birthright of freedom, however disparate they may have been in power, wealth, and rank. They all had possessions that are called rights in English, or "rechte" in German. Ancient Mediterranean languages had no exact equivalent for rights. - End brief history lesson. # David Hacket Fischer- Liberty and Freedom.

It would be a shame if it was decided that Wisconsinites do not have the right of free public access to the shoreline of its beautiful lakes. Other mid west states have already settled their law for public access on the shore line. Free public access. Even in Florida one can walk the shorelines.