After completing two one-mile ocean swims earlier this summer, at Barnegat Light and Long Branch, I wanted to see how a lake swim would compare. I registered for Medford Swimfest #3 in August 2026. I had also recently swum a mile indoors in roughly 30 minutes, so I was curious how close I could get to that pace in calmer open water.

I expected the lake swim to be easier than the ocean. There would be no surf to fight through, and the water would be much calmer overall. After completing my first lake swim, I do think lake swimming is easier than the ocean, but the race also showed me that open-water swimming can still create its own challenges even when the water looks almost perfectly calm.

A Much Smoother Start

One of the biggest differences was apparent almost immediately. Only 17 swimmers participated in the one-mile race, which made the start extremely smooth. There was plenty of space, no bumping into other swimmers, and none of the congestion I had experienced during my Long Branch swim. I could settle into a normal freestyle rhythm without having to time my breathing around waves or worry about being pushed around by the surf. From that perspective, the lake felt much more manageable.

My Goggles Became the Biggest Problem

The smooth start did not mean my first lap went smoothly. Once again, my goggles fogged badly enough that I could barely see where I was going. At one point, I came surprisingly close to swimming directly into a dock because I could not clearly make out what was in front of me.

Eventually, I took the goggles off for a few minutes before putting them back on. When I started using them again, my vision was much clearer, and the second lap went far better from a navigation standpoint. Since my goggles have fogged up during all three of my races so far, I think it’s time to buy a new pair. It might seem like a relatively small equipment issue, but guessing which way the course went while barely being able to see made the swim much more difficult than it needed to be.

Sighting Was Still a Challenge

Even after my goggles remained mostly clear during the second lap, I still had to lift my head periodically to make sure I was staying on course. With only 17 swimmers in the race, the field spread out quickly. In larger races, I can often look ahead and use clusters of swimmers in brightly colored swim caps as another reference point for where the course is going. At Medford, there were fewer swimmers around me to follow, so I had to rely more heavily on spotting the buoys and other landmarks myself.

Comparing Medford With My Two Ocean Swims

My two ocean races had presented very different challenges. I finished my first one-mile ocean swim at Barnegat Light in 31:33. At Long Branch, I finished in 37:48 after dealing with a crowded mass start, contact with other swimmers, and a group that went off course.

Medford fell between those two performances at 34:50. The race felt much more controlled than Long Branch, and there were fewer outside factors affecting the result. With calm water and a small field, my fitness, technique, and navigation felt more important.

Calm Conditions Did Not Mean a Fast Time

Despite the favorable conditions, I did not feel that strong during the Medford race. I had hoped the calmer water might allow me to get closer to the pace I had recently been swimming indoors, but that did not happen.

A lake swim may look closer to pool swimming than an ocean race does, but there are still major differences. There are no walls to push off, no lane lines, no perfectly measured visual references, and no guarantee that you are swimming the shortest possible route. On this particular day, I also simply did not feel like I was at my best.

Lake vs. Ocean

After completing one-mile races in both environments, I would describe lake swimming as more predictable. The ocean introduces more variables through waves, surf, currents, and changing conditions. A lake removes many of those factors, but it does not remove the need to sight well, pace yourself, and stay on course.

For me, that makes lake swims a useful benchmark. When conditions are more predictable, it is easier to compare one race with another and get a better sense of whether I am actually improving. My next goal is to get to the point where I can swim a mile in under 30 minutes consistently, rather than only approaching that mark in the pool. After that, I would like to see how close I can get in both lake and ocean races.

I am planning to finish my open-water season with the 1.2-mile Point to Point Bay Swim in Avalon, New Jersey. That should give me one more chance to see how my pace and sighting hold up in a bay swim.