A weekly group swim drawing hundreds of participants to the lakefront will not take place for the rest of the summer due to permitting problems, organizers announced Tuesday.
Participants with the Friday Morning Swim Club have met at Montrose Harbor since 2021 for a weekly jump in Lake Michigan, but organizers Andrew Glatt and Nicole Novotny said in an Instagram video announcement that the rest of “season three” was canceled.
“We will not host any additional swims this summer due to last Friday’s events and the complex communication that is happening between the Chicago Park District and the city,” Glatt said.
Glatt and Novotny said that while they had not been present at last week’s gathering of swimmers, they had been told that employees of the Police Department and the Park District were “seeking out” swimmers and threatening to arrest them.
“What happened last Friday isn’t what we envisioned for Swim Club ever,” Glatt said.
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A police spokesperson said officers were monitoring a peaceful gathering of about 250 people in the area of Montrose Harbor at 6:30 a.m. Aug. 25. but declined to say whether officers made any arrests.
Glatt and Novotny did not share the specific issues that led them to cancel the rest of the season in their video but said it was a “complicated situation” that didn’t have “a simple fix.”
According to the Park District website, an event for more than 50 people requires a special event permit.
A Park District spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday night that for the swim event to continue, organizers would need to obtain “a permit which includes a robust safety plan.”
“To date, no permit application has been submitted nor has any intention to do so been made clear by the organizers,” the statement read.
In September 2022, Glatt told the Tribune the weekly swims were drawing 600 to 800 participants for a plunge in the lake.
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Glatt and Novotny said in their announcement that they were planning other events for swim club participants and hoped to bring the weekly swims back in 2024.
The final swim for this summer had been scheduled for Sept. 29, according to the group’s website. The website now features an announcement: “Season 3 has wrapped. No more swims this season.”
