Swimmer who calls himself The Shark will try again to cross Lake Michigan

GRAND HAVEN, Michigan — An ultra swimmer said he will attempt to cross Lake Michigan again, from Michigan to Wisconsin, just a few weeks after problems with a GPS device forced him to give up after 60 miles (96 kilometers).

Jim Dreyer said he would leave Grand Haven early Monday night. He said the trip to Milwaukee would cover at least 80 miles (128 kilometers) in the water and take 72 hours or more.

Dreyer, 61, will also bring a small inflatable boat with supplies.

“Sorry for the last minute announcement, but chaos is often a part of this open water swimming,” he said. said on Facebook while also posting “Here I Go Again,” a 1987 power ballad video by Whitesnake.

His progress may be followed online.

Dreyer, who calls himself The Shark, crossed Lake Michigan in 1998, starting in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and ending in Ludington, Michigan. But three attempts to do it again since 2023 have failed.

His latest attempt began on Aug. 6. The next day, he paused to get new AA batteries to keep a GPS device working. But in the process, Dreyer said, he somehow lost the bag in the lake.

He had only a compass and nature to help him try to keep moving west. But Dreyer ended up swimming north, wasting precious time and adding more miles as dangerous weather approached. A support team pulled him out of Lake Michigan on August 8.

“What a blow!” Dreyer said then.