Jim "The Shark" Dreyer is ready to swim across Lake Michigan alone

GRAND HAVEN,Mich.-- Jim "The Shark" Dreyer announces his third attempt at swimming alone across Lake Michigan on August 6th. 

His journey will start from McKinley Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to City Beach in Grand Haven, Michigan, which totals out to be approx. 82.9 miles. 

“This announcement should come as no surprise,” Dreyer said. “Anyone who knows me expects that I will not walk away from a goal before it is accomplished.” 

Dreyer made two attempts to complete this swim last summer.

In his first attempt, just as he was in his 1998 swim, and it was the boat continuously getting swept further off course in worsening lake conditions that caused the swim to be aborted after just over 12 miles.

Dreyer made a second attempt, swimming self-sufficiently. About 27 miles into the swim, with conditions worsening, a rescue crew pulled Dreyer from the water after his supply dinghy was torn apart at the seams from facing over 25 hours of 8-foot waves.

Dreyer estimates that with currents, the distance of this new attempted swim could be 90 miles or more. He expects the crossing, with supplies in tow, to take more than 72 continuous hours without sleep. 

“I have to get it done this summer,” Dreyer said. “Next summer, I will be directing the Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Swim to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I am dedicated to that event and film project.”

“Even with all the extensive training and planning, I understand the inherent dangers of this self-sufficient swim,” Dreyer added. “I hope this calculated risk captures the imaginations of adventurous souls everywhere, as I find my way across the seemingly endless expanse of Lake Michigan". 

To track Jim “The Shark” Dreyer’s progress as he is set to take off on august 6th in his self-sufficient crossing of Lake Michigan in near real time, click here.