Timmie
There can be several causes of a high ALK. I have you tested your fill water ???
Put simply ALK is the restance to ph change present in a body of water. The higher the ALK the harder for change to occur. The restance to ph change is a good thing but like fatty foods too much is bad. High ALK can cause mineral deposits to build like the cholesterol from the fries I had for lunch plugging my arties are like the deposits that may form in your pool heater or on other surfaces. As for taking a swim it shouldn’t hurt you my pool is around 190 right now. To get a great answer the pros here they need more info. You might also want a good test kit. Ben kits are the best from what I have seen.
http://www.poolsolutions.com/cart/shopping.php

Pool size – Given
Free Chlorine
Total Chlorine
PH
ALH
CYA
Total or calcium hardness
Pool surface
Heater and type

Later
Steve