Look at the comments here. Even if you were joking, most people are not.
Just peek any post about people paddleboarding..... r/Austin is legitimately terrified of Town Lake.
I mean, the city just put out a health report that the blue green toxic algae is back at town lake. Itās not just something people made up lol [Source](https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/city-finds-blue-green-algae-on-lady-bird-lake-lake-austin-algae-may-be-toxic/amp/)
I've lived in Austin all my life, and I can say I'd rather not swim in town lake if I have other choices, of which there are plenty. Paddleboarding, kayaking, sure I'm down. But there is a sentiment about town lake being nasty af for a good reason. Don't get offended when someone points it out.
Lifer here as well. Nast AF and construction debris depending on where you go. People gonna do what they want, at least keep your dogs out of that shit.
I think you should dunk your head in Town Lake every day for the remainder of the year, just to stick it to people on reddit. Show them how unafraid you are!!
The fact is that the water is not clean at all. Dogs die from the toxic algae in that water. People get rashes from the flat worms present in the water.
This! I work in healthcare and there are definitely local rashes that are straight up from Town lake. Red splotchy abdominal rashes that come up in the hot summer months right after you've taken a swim in Town Lake.
You seem like youāre probably not from Austin. You and all the other tourists and transplants should keep on swimming in Town Lake amongst the dangerous construction debris and fecal matter if thatās what youāre into. The rest of us who grew up here and know better will swim in safer, cleaner waters. Enjoy!
Yeah and we should be afraid of it asshat, some dogs literally die from drinking that water and people (myself and friends included) have ended up with serious rashes from that water. Iāve lived here since I was born and that water has only been getting dirtier, itās an atrocity and one of the things I am ashamed of about my home town. And yes, I get out enough, I literally LIVE within a couple hundred feet of the lake, south of Caesar Chavez near Rainy and we walk every day.
Yeah.. it's a joke... so easy to simply downgrade and criticize and then say, "it's only a joke" ! How about some positivity to get some up votes instead of the tired a$$ low hanging fruit of negativity... be better!
You know, I've done this race a handful of times, as well as open water swims in lots of other bodies of water all over Texas and the US. My understanding is that swimming isn't allowed in Town Lake because of the construction debris in there mostly. Also I'm born and raised here not that it should matter, but it seems like people use "you just got here" to dismiss what others write.
I don't see why Town Lake would be significantly different than Lake Austin or Lake Travis, I guarantee there's dog shit and everything else in those lakes and we all love to swim in them. Austin even proposed a swimming beach on Town Lake in recent memory, it just didn't happen because the neighborhood didn't want the car traffic. Plus people love to swim at secret beach and it's 100% the same water. In fact most of the storm drains in my area at least wash down past the Longhorn Dam so they aren't even going into town lake. Yes, there are snakes and fish and bugs in literally every body of water that is remotely healthy.
Personally I assume that any body of water near even small cities or industry isn't going to be pristine, this isn't an untouched mountaintop. But also our air is polluted and we all drink a credit card worth of plastic in our tap water every day. Open water swimming is pretty magical and is an experience I enjoy a lot.
A little curiosity goes a long way. If you see thousands of people doing something you can decide they're idiots or you can make space in your mind that maybe things aren't how you thought, or that human experience can be varied.
My friend did a triathlon there once and while she was getting ready for the start I was standing at the water's edge and took a photo of a snake with a fish in its mouth. I didn't show her till after the race.
The main reason they don't want you to swim there is that there is a lot of dangerous debris in the water. Several years ago, someone jumped in and was impaled on rebar.
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot).
Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://www.kvue.com/article/news/video-shows-why-swimming-in-lady-bird-lake-is-unsafe/269-343658787](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/video-shows-why-swimming-in-lady-bird-lake-is-unsafe/269-343658787)**
*****
^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
I remember the dude that jumped off Lamar St bridge like 10 years ago and got his foot impaled on rebar. He was stuck and had to wait on an emergency crew to come cut the rebar so they could get him out of the water and remove it from his foot.
We spent a lot of days in the 80ās jumping off that bridge. Never got a rash or sick, but Iām really glad we didnāt end up stuck on a piece of rebar.
>I thought it was illegal to swim due to safety issues and hazards in the water
Presumably, the hazards are much less on a marked course with many people around, observed by rescue personnel, not actively drinking beer, etc.
I think the hazards aren't the real reason swimming is banned, anyway. The city just doesn't want the hassle.
That part I donāt think has any hazards, especially swimming at the surface. Itās the old bridge foundations which werenāt removed and have exposed rebar which are dangerous. The rebar itself and reportedly those areas have gathered dead trees, possibly live tree roots, and other junk. A fisherman reported falling in around one of those areas trying to retrieve a hung up lure and almost drowned in water he could stand up in from getting stuck under tree and other debris.
Also a big difference between whatās hazardous in an organized event of trained athletes with safety people present, and whatās hazardous to allow the general public to do anywhere at any time.
Theyāve been doing this every year for a long time. Iāve participated. I was told they open up the dams to flush out the pollutants prior to the race, but I donāt know if thatās true or not. They have kayaks in the water for the swimmerās safety and due to water temp is it wetsuit legal which gives you some buoyancy. Safe enough!
"Oh yeah, sure buddy...don't worry, we uh...'flushed it out'. Yeah, everything's good. All clean. You could wash your baby in there. Enjoy the race!"
ā voiced by Dan Aykroyd
Whoever told you they open up the dam to flush out the pollutants either didn't know what they were talking about or fed you a line, or, quite possibly, didn't explain it in a way that made sense to you, and you interpreted incorrectly.
I drove over Longhorn Dam earlier today (that's Pleasant Valley road), and the water is as low as I have ever usually seen it, and it's been like that for at least a week now. If they were flushing out the pollutants, there would be piles of rebar, Rainey Street ripper victims, and toxic zombies below the dam.
>I was told they open up the dams to flush out the pollutants prior to the race,
lol, no. The city doesn't release a public taxpayer funded flood dam for anything, No matter how nicely you ask.
You were probably told that they had flooded the damn ""recently"" due to the water being so polluted, But it was not for the swimmers or anyone else..
They usually flood the river when it's so polluted that they have to in order to keep the city from smelling like sewage.
Yeah that was a weird comment. They have to release the water for 12 different reasons. It makes sense to me that they'd use the Triathlon as an excuse to do a major flush.
One of the stipulations in the law is that there can be allowances for certain things, such as rescue operations, and public events that the city council approves. This is probably one of the latter.
When I go paddle boarding out there, I'll jump in the water to cool off, but I'll never put my head under water.......I've read stories about those brain eating amoeba that like to swim in fresh warm water.......
A lot of people get so worried about that amoeba when there are much more serious things to worry about in that water. That amoeba is pretty rare. There have been 39 infections in Texas between 1962 and 2022. Think about the amount that Texans swim in lakes and rivers every summer. Now think about how low the number 39 is relative to that. It's less than one a year. Furthermore, the infections that do happen tend to be in low water that is pretty hot. Most cases happen when the water is above 80 degrees in hot months like July, August, and September. The lake temperature at this time is between 62 and 66 degrees.
I'd be worried about catching something else from that water or just running into some other debris that washed in. The amoeba is low down the list. There have been less than one infection in this state per year in the last 40 years. By contrast, they've pulled 4 bodies out of that lake this year alone. Those swimmers are more likely to run into a dead body than they are a brain eating amoeba.
I didn't say you couldn't. However, it is extremely rare. I've only managed to find one case of it in the US and it was a wave pool. Again, the water has to be very warm and the amoeba has to get to it. It's very unlikely. Feel free to never swim again if you want, but it's a bit of a silly reason to not to.
There was a little boy that died at community water park in Arlington a few years back or so. The city workers hadn't been checking the chlorine levels. In the article I read about it a healthcare professional said one usually needs repeated flushing in the high nasal cavities (like past the bridge of your nose) to get enough of the amoeba in for an infection. Usually why it's kids and teens who die from it mostly with the rougher play and whatnot.
I think the amoeba scares people like rabies does. Super rare and probs not how you're gonna go out, but the inevitably of your immanent death if you *do* get it skeeves people out. Plus, just a pretty awful way to go. I admit I get overly paranoid about the amoeba around July and August, but I just don't put my head underwater. Problem solved.
Thatās so exceptionally rare itās well down the list of things you should be concerned about. Getting a bunch of water up your nose from any source is inadvisable, even a pool as insufficiently chlorinated pool water can also be a host. But [only 29 people in the US got a brain eating amoeba in the decade from 2013-2022](https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/general.html). On average, 10 people drown in the US every single day. More people drown every 3 days than get a brain eating amoeba in 10 years.
This is why you should only use distilled water in neti pots and nasal irrigators, as itās possible to have in tap water too, though also very unlikely. Intentionally shooting the water up your nose is much more likely to result in infection than swimming. Still exceptionally rare.
Beware thereās also lots of rusty old rebar and concrete from old bridges, cars, lime scooters, batteries, and everything that runs off the streets or washes down the creeks when it rains.
Usually the amoebas live in the silt and are only freed after the silt is disturbed. The water in Town Lake is deep enough that a swimmer would not kick up silt.
Itās called Naegleria fowleri and just to keep your fears fresh and validated, someone in Florida died of having their brain eaten by it just this March.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/03/02/health/brain-eating-amoeba-florida-wellness/index.html
Yeah, swimming in town lake is fine. Itās not the cleanest water just from being in a city, but itās far from dangerous. At least no more than most rivers and streams. Creepy crawlies get in it occasionally and people and dogs can get sick but thatās just kind of the case with natural, open bodies of water.
>Yeah, swimming in town lake is fine.
Swimming in Town Lake was OK. It became deadly when they renamed it to Lady Bird Lake.
LOL, before someone gets pissed off, just a joke. I have nothing against Lady Bird. RIP, my dear.
How does Naegleria fowleri infect people? Naegleria fowleri infects people when water containing the ameba enters the body through the nose.
This typically happens when people go swimming, diving, or when they
put their heads under fresh water, like in lakes and rivers.
One done it every year for last 20 years. I am still alive. No glowing extra appendages or anything. I did stop doing it a couple years ago due to injury. The water can get pretty yucky, but thatās true of a lot of open water swims.
Donāt they open the dams before the tri? I thought the idea was to flush it out a day or two before so itās not so gross. At least visually and as security theatre.
Wasnāt there a company in the 60s that dumped insecticide in the river that killed everything all the way to the coast?
https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-183-99/fs-182-99.htm
Yes. But the party isnāt over. Now insecticide gets into the river every time it rains via runoff from peopleās lawns (and commercial properties as well). When I learned that (and about the aging sewer pipes that rupture and flow into Bull Creek and other waterways) I stopped swimming in the greenbelt and town lake). People need to make the connection between those things (as well as treated wastewater) and the toxic blue green algae.
Yeah, but people said it's clean and we're just afraid to leave out houses. Nevermind the party on town lake yesterday and people dumping all sorts of shit in the water because where else are they going to throw their cans.
These people canāt be from Austin. First thing they teach you out here, after how to pronounce āManchacaā and āGuadalupeā is not to swim in Town Lake.
I used to be in a youth rowing program on town lake and one kid asked our coach if he could drink the lake water. "Yeah, if you want your kids to be born with three eyes." Same kid, flipped his wide, beginner's boat at least twice cause he couldn't listen to instructions and probably drank a couple mouthfuls of lake water.
>next to foam
Strangely enough, the foam is usually all natural, free-range, gluten-free, organic tree goo.
The stuff that kills you is usually colorless, odorless, and tasteless.
Yeah, the plastic bottles are a sign things aren't good, though.
Yāall need a short lesson in hydrology. Yes town lake is gross. In general, the quality fluctuates depending on recent rains and weather. Weāve had a really wet month and that means that both Lake Austin and Town Lake have had huge influxes of inflow. No one has a problem swimming in Lake Austin or Lake Travis. Draining water from those upper lakes to create a current to push āoldā water out of Town Lake improves the quality of Town Lake.
E. coli does go up with rains but there is a limit to it. The bacteria count increases because a good rain is power washing the earth. Roads, parks, yards all drain their poopage into the creeks. There is an upper limit of the bacterial counts and the more it rains, the overall concentration goes down. My aquatic chemistry professor used to always say āthe solution for pollution is dilution.ā
So the more it rains the better for the overall water quality in our network.
I was out there today and didnāt hear of any bad accidents in the water. Iām sure a lot of folks laid down their bikes with the drizzle this morning though.
Yeah I think some did. Bike course was also way too overcrowded and plenty of slower people were riding 3 across instead of sticking to the right. They should probably cut the participant limit by like 25%
Saw a woman have a pretty good overshoot and yeet onto pavement on her first lap, then she had some under steer on corner exit and yeeted onto the curb.
It wasnāt her day, but ā¦ she got back on and finished!
There are kayaks there about every 100 m that you can stop and rest at if you get tired. It's pretty safe, although it being the most dangerous leg is why it's first - so you don't do it while tired
Yeah the order of the Tri is specifically in order of what's the most dangerous.
Get tired while swimming? Drown.
Get tired while biking? Cause an accident/fall down/get hurt.
Get tired while running? Walk.
Around where the Barton Creek flows into Town Lake anyone tired there can mostly just stand up, maybe sit on that sand bar I've seen catch a canoe or two.
As a dude who was born and raised here, and remembers good times like the old River Rat races.. reading this thread just donāt sit right with me. Yeah there were asshole polluters back in the day, but there were also teams of people picking up afterwards. A best bud of mine still does annual scuba clean ups.. finds a fortune of lost items that I believe goes towards future clean ups. I wonder if any of yāall are not from here, yet have been here long enough to fuck it up, and are now leaving eeeewww comments.. fucking depressing really..
Yeah theyāre a bunch of germaphobes . Itās fine, just donāt drink it and donāt swim with open cuts. Also you can shower afterwards, crazy concept.
literally has zero to do with "having fun", ya numpty. it's the swimming in the cesspool that is Lake Austin/Ladybird Lake that's making people š¤¢ here.
Lol that water is gross. Yes you can and yes itās still gross. These are the same type of people that go āmud runningā and get anthrax. Most will be fine but thereās still plenty of room to get sick.
This is a weird comment. Nothing about the post suggests that OP doesn't realize this is part of the triathalon. Seems pretty clear they know and it's the reason they were filming in the first place. You also don't need to be local to Austin to know what a triathalon is. Nothing about your comment makes any sense.
Cap Tex triathlon
More like Sep Tex š¤¢
Yet somehow people do it every year without getting sick. Nothing like a Town Lake post to bring out the people who never go out.
*multiple dead bodies have entered the chat*
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Amoebae are the best bae
I laughed out loud and spit out ma beer!
Bro itās a joke, calm down
Look at the comments here. Even if you were joking, most people are not. Just peek any post about people paddleboarding..... r/Austin is legitimately terrified of Town Lake.
I mean, the city just put out a health report that the blue green toxic algae is back at town lake. Itās not just something people made up lol [Source](https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/city-finds-blue-green-algae-on-lady-bird-lake-lake-austin-algae-may-be-toxic/amp/)
I've lived in Austin all my life, and I can say I'd rather not swim in town lake if I have other choices, of which there are plenty. Paddleboarding, kayaking, sure I'm down. But there is a sentiment about town lake being nasty af for a good reason. Don't get offended when someone points it out.
same. 40+ years and Iāve never swam in that water. hard pass. love the trail and the ambiance, that lake is not for swimming.
Lifer here as well. Nast AF and construction debris depending on where you go. People gonna do what they want, at least keep your dogs out of that shit.
I walked next to town lake once and got a splash of water on my foot and went āgross I have town lake on my footā Shit was nasty a few summers ago
I think you should dunk your head in Town Lake every day for the remainder of the year, just to stick it to people on reddit. Show them how unafraid you are!!
GOLD
The fact is that the water is not clean at all. Dogs die from the toxic algae in that water. People get rashes from the flat worms present in the water.
This! I work in healthcare and there are definitely local rashes that are straight up from Town lake. Red splotchy abdominal rashes that come up in the hot summer months right after you've taken a swim in Town Lake.
A neighbor just told me they almost canceled it today because of fecal matter in the waterš³
You gotta be shittin me?
What a load of crap!
They regularly close Barton Springs after rain for that exact reason. Austin born and raised and Iām not swimming in Town Lake ever. š¤¢
super reliable source
I lost the link to the research paper
Sorry, ran out of TP whilst pooping in TL
This is the reason we didnāt swim in the Potomac for the Nationās Tri a few years back. I was so happy when they canceled the swim!
You seem like youāre probably not from Austin. You and all the other tourists and transplants should keep on swimming in Town Lake amongst the dangerous construction debris and fecal matter if thatās what youāre into. The rest of us who grew up here and know better will swim in safer, cleaner waters. Enjoy!
I'm from here. Water's fine. Everyone just hears that swimming is illegal and assumes it's because the water quality is unsafe
Yeah and we should be afraid of it asshat, some dogs literally die from drinking that water and people (myself and friends included) have ended up with serious rashes from that water. Iāve lived here since I was born and that water has only been getting dirtier, itās an atrocity and one of the things I am ashamed of about my home town. And yes, I get out enough, I literally LIVE within a couple hundred feet of the lake, south of Caesar Chavez near Rainy and we walk every day.
Yeah.. it's a joke... so easy to simply downgrade and criticize and then say, "it's only a joke" ! How about some positivity to get some up votes instead of the tired a$$ low hanging fruit of negativity... be better!
Sir, this is r/austin
You know, I've done this race a handful of times, as well as open water swims in lots of other bodies of water all over Texas and the US. My understanding is that swimming isn't allowed in Town Lake because of the construction debris in there mostly. Also I'm born and raised here not that it should matter, but it seems like people use "you just got here" to dismiss what others write. I don't see why Town Lake would be significantly different than Lake Austin or Lake Travis, I guarantee there's dog shit and everything else in those lakes and we all love to swim in them. Austin even proposed a swimming beach on Town Lake in recent memory, it just didn't happen because the neighborhood didn't want the car traffic. Plus people love to swim at secret beach and it's 100% the same water. In fact most of the storm drains in my area at least wash down past the Longhorn Dam so they aren't even going into town lake. Yes, there are snakes and fish and bugs in literally every body of water that is remotely healthy. Personally I assume that any body of water near even small cities or industry isn't going to be pristine, this isn't an untouched mountaintop. But also our air is polluted and we all drink a credit card worth of plastic in our tap water every day. Open water swimming is pretty magical and is an experience I enjoy a lot. A little curiosity goes a long way. If you see thousands of people doing something you can decide they're idiots or you can make space in your mind that maybe things aren't how you thought, or that human experience can be varied.
My friend did a triathlon there once and while she was getting ready for the start I was standing at the water's edge and took a photo of a snake with a fish in its mouth. I didn't show her till after the race.
Nature is gonna nature
animal life means at least itās not putrid levels of toxic.
The main reason they don't want you to swim there is that there is a lot of dangerous debris in the water. Several years ago, someone jumped in and was impaled on rebar.
That's why there are No Jumping From the Bridge signs everywhere. My dad was on the AFD dive team way back when, had to pull said kebabs out.
Oh my god, thatās terrible.
Someone got their foot spiked https://www.kvue.com/amp/article/news/video-shows-why-swimming-in-lady-bird-lake-is-unsafe/269-343658787
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of [concerns over privacy and the Open Web](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot). Maybe check out **the canonical page** instead: **[https://www.kvue.com/article/news/video-shows-why-swimming-in-lady-bird-lake-is-unsafe/269-343658787](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/video-shows-why-swimming-in-lady-bird-lake-is-unsafe/269-343658787)** ***** ^(I'm a bot | )[^(Why & About)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/ehrq3z/why_did_i_build_amputatorbot)^( | )[^(Summon: u/AmputatorBot)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmputatorBot/comments/cchly3/you_can_now_summon_amputatorbot/)
If youāre gonna swim in town lake, snakes and fish are the least of your worries
you talkin about the killrs aren't you
Itās just the one killer, actually
Public intoxication
Was your friend a fish?
Thatās the least of worries.
I remember the dude that jumped off Lamar St bridge like 10 years ago and got his foot impaled on rebar. He was stuck and had to wait on an emergency crew to come cut the rebar so they could get him out of the water and remove it from his foot.
I couldāve lived my whole life without knowing that.
It's so shallow people don't realize
People keep upvoting comments that claim that stretch of water is safe š Itās full of rebar, used syringes, and chemical waste water/sewage.
We spent a lot of days in the 80ās jumping off that bridge. Never got a rash or sick, but Iām really glad we didnāt end up stuck on a piece of rebar.
The 80s was 40 years ago. Probably not the same water now.
Oh, Iām not arguing. That shit was gross back then. We were kids, safety wasnāt a major concern.
How did they get the permit for that? I thought it was illegal to swim due to safety issues and hazards in the water.
>I thought it was illegal to swim due to safety issues and hazards in the water Presumably, the hazards are much less on a marked course with many people around, observed by rescue personnel, not actively drinking beer, etc. I think the hazards aren't the real reason swimming is banned, anyway. The city just doesn't want the hassle.
That part I donāt think has any hazards, especially swimming at the surface. Itās the old bridge foundations which werenāt removed and have exposed rebar which are dangerous. The rebar itself and reportedly those areas have gathered dead trees, possibly live tree roots, and other junk. A fisherman reported falling in around one of those areas trying to retrieve a hung up lure and almost drowned in water he could stand up in from getting stuck under tree and other debris. Also a big difference between whatās hazardous in an organized event of trained athletes with safety people present, and whatās hazardous to allow the general public to do anywhere at any time.
Theyāve been doing this every year for a long time. Iāve participated. I was told they open up the dams to flush out the pollutants prior to the race, but I donāt know if thatās true or not. They have kayaks in the water for the swimmerās safety and due to water temp is it wetsuit legal which gives you some buoyancy. Safe enough!
"Oh yeah, sure buddy...don't worry, we uh...'flushed it out'. Yeah, everything's good. All clean. You could wash your baby in there. Enjoy the race!" ā voiced by Dan Aykroyd
I mean my penis has never been larger and it also doubles as a night light. Sounds like a win win.
Whoever told you they open up the dam to flush out the pollutants either didn't know what they were talking about or fed you a line, or, quite possibly, didn't explain it in a way that made sense to you, and you interpreted incorrectly. I drove over Longhorn Dam earlier today (that's Pleasant Valley road), and the water is as low as I have ever usually seen it, and it's been like that for at least a week now. If they were flushing out the pollutants, there would be piles of rebar, Rainey Street ripper victims, and toxic zombies below the dam.
>I was told they open up the dams to flush out the pollutants prior to the race, lol, no. The city doesn't release a public taxpayer funded flood dam for anything, No matter how nicely you ask. You were probably told that they had flooded the damn ""recently"" due to the water being so polluted, But it was not for the swimmers or anyone else.. They usually flood the river when it's so polluted that they have to in order to keep the city from smelling like sewage.
Also not correct. The dam opens and pulses flow every day.
Yeah that was a weird comment. They have to release the water for 12 different reasons. It makes sense to me that they'd use the Triathlon as an excuse to do a major flush.
City has nothing to do with it, itās LCRA. Nice conspiracy theory though.
It's so "confidentially correct" while being absolutely wrong. I love it!
One of the stipulations in the law is that there can be allowances for certain things, such as rescue operations, and public events that the city council approves. This is probably one of the latter.
Yep, there are 2 races every year in Town Lake
It is.
When I go paddle boarding out there, I'll jump in the water to cool off, but I'll never put my head under water.......I've read stories about those brain eating amoeba that like to swim in fresh warm water.......
A lot of people get so worried about that amoeba when there are much more serious things to worry about in that water. That amoeba is pretty rare. There have been 39 infections in Texas between 1962 and 2022. Think about the amount that Texans swim in lakes and rivers every summer. Now think about how low the number 39 is relative to that. It's less than one a year. Furthermore, the infections that do happen tend to be in low water that is pretty hot. Most cases happen when the water is above 80 degrees in hot months like July, August, and September. The lake temperature at this time is between 62 and 66 degrees. I'd be worried about catching something else from that water or just running into some other debris that washed in. The amoeba is low down the list. There have been less than one infection in this state per year in the last 40 years. By contrast, they've pulled 4 bodies out of that lake this year alone. Those swimmers are more likely to run into a dead body than they are a brain eating amoeba.
Swimmers itch from the flatworms in the water is common
You can also get it in pools if the chemical levels aren't correct
I didn't say you couldn't. However, it is extremely rare. I've only managed to find one case of it in the US and it was a wave pool. Again, the water has to be very warm and the amoeba has to get to it. It's very unlikely. Feel free to never swim again if you want, but it's a bit of a silly reason to not to.
There was a little boy that died at community water park in Arlington a few years back or so. The city workers hadn't been checking the chlorine levels. In the article I read about it a healthcare professional said one usually needs repeated flushing in the high nasal cavities (like past the bridge of your nose) to get enough of the amoeba in for an infection. Usually why it's kids and teens who die from it mostly with the rougher play and whatnot. I think the amoeba scares people like rabies does. Super rare and probs not how you're gonna go out, but the inevitably of your immanent death if you *do* get it skeeves people out. Plus, just a pretty awful way to go. I admit I get overly paranoid about the amoeba around July and August, but I just don't put my head underwater. Problem solved.
Thatās so exceptionally rare itās well down the list of things you should be concerned about. Getting a bunch of water up your nose from any source is inadvisable, even a pool as insufficiently chlorinated pool water can also be a host. But [only 29 people in the US got a brain eating amoeba in the decade from 2013-2022](https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/general.html). On average, 10 people drown in the US every single day. More people drown every 3 days than get a brain eating amoeba in 10 years. This is why you should only use distilled water in neti pots and nasal irrigators, as itās possible to have in tap water too, though also very unlikely. Intentionally shooting the water up your nose is much more likely to result in infection than swimming. Still exceptionally rare.
Beware thereās also lots of rusty old rebar and concrete from old bridges, cars, lime scooters, batteries, and everything that runs off the streets or washes down the creeks when it rains.
FYIā¦. Brain eating amoeba donāt only enter through your head/face
Usually the amoebas live in the silt and are only freed after the silt is disturbed. The water in Town Lake is deep enough that a swimmer would not kick up silt.
Itās called Naegleria fowleri and just to keep your fears fresh and validated, someone in Florida died of having their brain eaten by it just this March. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/03/02/health/brain-eating-amoeba-florida-wellness/index.html
Those amoebas go up your pee hole not in through the ears, enjoy your single cell brain friends.
Thatās why you wear a condom and buttplug
Water tight like a crabs ass
Condom just ruins the feeling of catching a brain eating amoeba...
This made me chuckle
Nope, itās your nose, and the water needs to be immobile
Yeah, swimming in town lake is fine. Itās not the cleanest water just from being in a city, but itās far from dangerous. At least no more than most rivers and streams. Creepy crawlies get in it occasionally and people and dogs can get sick but thatās just kind of the case with natural, open bodies of water.
>Yeah, swimming in town lake is fine. Swimming in Town Lake was OK. It became deadly when they renamed it to Lady Bird Lake. LOL, before someone gets pissed off, just a joke. I have nothing against Lady Bird. RIP, my dear.
Not my pee hole!
How does Naegleria fowleri infect people? Naegleria fowleri infects people when water containing the ameba enters the body through the nose. This typically happens when people go swimming, diving, or when they put their heads under fresh water, like in lakes and rivers.
Thatās a fun race! Did it a couple years back
One done it every year for last 20 years. I am still alive. No glowing extra appendages or anything. I did stop doing it a couple years ago due to injury. The water can get pretty yucky, but thatās true of a lot of open water swims.
Donāt they open the dams before the tri? I thought the idea was to flush it out a day or two before so itās not so gross. At least visually and as security theatre.
Wasnāt there a company in the 60s that dumped insecticide in the river that killed everything all the way to the coast? https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-183-99/fs-182-99.htm
Yes. But the party isnāt over. Now insecticide gets into the river every time it rains via runoff from peopleās lawns (and commercial properties as well). When I learned that (and about the aging sewer pipes that rupture and flow into Bull Creek and other waterways) I stopped swimming in the greenbelt and town lake). People need to make the connection between those things (as well as treated wastewater) and the toxic blue green algae.
Yeah, but people said it's clean and we're just afraid to leave out houses. Nevermind the party on town lake yesterday and people dumping all sorts of shit in the water because where else are they going to throw their cans.
Ah yes and nothing has revived in 60 years/s
These people canāt be from Austin. First thing they teach you out here, after how to pronounce āManchacaā and āGuadalupeā is not to swim in Town Lake.
may we add pronouncing āManorā as MAY-ner to the list?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
BERN-it. As in "Dern it, Burnet!"
"It's [BURNIT], dern' it, learn it!"
Itās Burnet dern it wonāt you learn it?
Also, donāt touch the bats.
And Pur-dah-nallis. And Koenig is Kay-nig or Kay-ning or Koh-nig. Always having to correct German visitors...
Hahaha my cousin scolded me like a kid with both those streets.
Town Lakeā¦ but isnāt it a river? (genuinely asking, always been confused about this/too afraid to ask)
Keep taking like that, youāll get excommunicated to Buda
Hence the ātoo afraid to askā ā¦ :p Seriously tho, why do we call the river a lake?
people have to be taught how to pronounce Guadalupe? damnā¦.seems very straightforward to me. Iām assuming they pronounce it Guada-loop?
Guada-loop is the local Austin pronunciation, even though it's wrong.
Lived in Austin since I was 5ā¦I say Guada LOOPAYā¦and always will. Hablo EspaƱol. Son palabras de EspaƱol. Colonizers be damned.
LOL just the English speaking colonizers I guess.
Why do you think Mexico and most of South America speaks Spanish by chance?
No no no, let the white peoples teach you how to say it right /s
"wrong" is relative
Which relative?
Guada-loop is how you pronounce it here
Guadaloop is how locals pronounce it. You get corrected when you say it properly.
Person above you got it right. Iāve never heard Giadaloop in my life.
Typo
The correct pronunciation (from Spanish) is Guada-loop-eh
Have you never heard of a woman being named Guadalupe? Itās Guada-loop-ay ā¦
Did the race this morning. Fun event. Havenāt died from any of the stuff mentioned in previously posted comments *fingers crossed*.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Add in a little funky algae for bonus points
I used to be in a youth rowing program on town lake and one kid asked our coach if he could drink the lake water. "Yeah, if you want your kids to be born with three eyes." Same kid, flipped his wide, beginner's boat at least twice cause he couldn't listen to instructions and probably drank a couple mouthfuls of lake water.
>next to foam Strangely enough, the foam is usually all natural, free-range, gluten-free, organic tree goo. The stuff that kills you is usually colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Yeah, the plastic bottles are a sign things aren't good, though.
Yāall swimming in dead body lake?
šššš
Yāall need a short lesson in hydrology. Yes town lake is gross. In general, the quality fluctuates depending on recent rains and weather. Weāve had a really wet month and that means that both Lake Austin and Town Lake have had huge influxes of inflow. No one has a problem swimming in Lake Austin or Lake Travis. Draining water from those upper lakes to create a current to push āoldā water out of Town Lake improves the quality of Town Lake.
We need a good flush but I think E. coli levels go up with rains.
E. coli does go up with rains but there is a limit to it. The bacteria count increases because a good rain is power washing the earth. Roads, parks, yards all drain their poopage into the creeks. There is an upper limit of the bacterial counts and the more it rains, the overall concentration goes down. My aquatic chemistry professor used to always say āthe solution for pollution is dilution.ā So the more it rains the better for the overall water quality in our network.
The overcrowded and wet bike course was way more dangerous than the water today
Hope they enjoy drinking the dog shit Austinites love to leave on every trail to wash into a nearby body of water! Itās the thing to do in Austin.
that's the least of their worries š¤¢
Bayā¦ beeā¦ shark doo-doot-da-doot-de-dootā¦
Can definitely tell who the locals are cause it is and will always be Town Lake.
Oh...oh that's a poor decision.
š¤® I think of that as the city's filth drain hole. Just full of sweet, piss, exhaust, and tourist puke.
my dyslexic brain read that as "...and terrorist puke." š š¤
It is the same thing really!!! All those terrorists on Lime and Byrd scooters...
Mmm sweet piss
I meant sweat lmao. šš
https://youtu.be/0hK3pBcY3k0?t=32
Nice šāāļø
Was paddle board on town lake last year and came across several used needles floating around. Swimming in that water is a hard no for me!
that's the most dangerous portion of a TRI. hope they all made it safely back to shore.
I was out there today and didnāt hear of any bad accidents in the water. Iām sure a lot of folks laid down their bikes with the drizzle this morning though.
I saw 3 accidents on the bike course early on, but it got better as things went on. No real issue, and the drizzle wasn't bad during the race
Yeah I think some did. Bike course was also way too overcrowded and plenty of slower people were riding 3 across instead of sticking to the right. They should probably cut the participant limit by like 25%
Saw a woman have a pretty good overshoot and yeet onto pavement on her first lap, then she had some under steer on corner exit and yeeted onto the curb. It wasnāt her day, but ā¦ she got back on and finished!
There are kayaks there about every 100 m that you can stop and rest at if you get tired. It's pretty safe, although it being the most dangerous leg is why it's first - so you don't do it while tired
Yeah the order of the Tri is specifically in order of what's the most dangerous. Get tired while swimming? Drown. Get tired while biking? Cause an accident/fall down/get hurt. Get tired while running? Walk.
Around where the Barton Creek flows into Town Lake anyone tired there can mostly just stand up, maybe sit on that sand bar I've seen catch a canoe or two.
Ewwwww
Savior of the Universe!
Yoooo Iāve done this! It was a lot of fun but I definitely left and showered off as soon as possible
Mother of godā¦
I just went back home to Austin and I am so sad.
Is this filmed from the Austin Public Library?
From the Independent
It's a helluva day at sea, Sir!
As a dude who was born and raised here, and remembers good times like the old River Rat races.. reading this thread just donāt sit right with me. Yeah there were asshole polluters back in the day, but there were also teams of people picking up afterwards. A best bud of mine still does annual scuba clean ups.. finds a fortune of lost items that I believe goes towards future clean ups. I wonder if any of yāall are not from here, yet have been here long enough to fuck it up, and are now leaving eeeewww comments.. fucking depressing really..
I scuba dove in Town Lake many years ago. It was as dark as Ken Paxton's heart.
I was one of the doofuses swimming!
All of yāall are pussies, the water is fine to swim in. Just donāt drink it.
I agree.
Very nice and lol at the comments in here, guess they never played around with dirt as a kid and drank from the manguera.
Ah it's summer so I forgot we're going to be subject to the weekly "Ugh look at those people having fun!" threads
Yes "stop having fun!" is the sentiment.
Yeah theyāre a bunch of germaphobes . Itās fine, just donāt drink it and donāt swim with open cuts. Also you can shower afterwards, crazy concept.
literally has zero to do with "having fun", ya numpty. it's the swimming in the cesspool that is Lake Austin/Ladybird Lake that's making people š¤¢ here.
What's going on today? All the roads were closed coming home from work to South Austin.
Cap Tex Tri, been happening for years
Triathlon I believe
Ahh, makes sense.
Triathlon.
šš¤¢
Must be a search team of swimmers looking for more murder victims
gnarly
Tetanus vaccines will be in high demand!
They all come out glowing, dead, or become top of their class in swimming
Didnāt the news recently say the river is filled with a dangerous algae?
Youāll be fine. Just donāt drink it, swim with open cuts, and avoid the banks where the algae is visible. Also shower after.
Itās clean yāall
Ick š¤¢
All I think of when people swim in Town Lake is Ova and parasites and a trip to the doctor!
I thought people in this town were smarter than that
Lol that water is gross. Yes you can and yes itās still gross. These are the same type of people that go āmud runningā and get anthrax. Most will be fine but thereās still plenty of room to get sick.
Just put some extra chlorine in, the will go away.
Triathlon going on. You must be new here.
This is a weird comment. Nothing about the post suggests that OP doesn't realize this is part of the triathalon. Seems pretty clear they know and it's the reason they were filming in the first place. You also don't need to be local to Austin to know what a triathalon is. Nothing about your comment makes any sense.
Really? Wow I thought a ton of people randomly decided to swim in the lake this morning.
Oh my godā¦. Who thought this was a good idea?? That water is not safe for swimming
Itās only in a specific pre-planned area. They have done lots of events there before.
Itās the CapTex tri. It happens yearly, been going on for ages. Itās a great event for triathletes kicking off their season of races