'The Shark' Gives Up Attempt to Swim Across Lake Michigan

UPDATE Sep 4, 2024 1:45 PM CDT

An ultra swimmer nicknamed The Shark appeared to be back on shore Wednesday, giving up on yet another quest to cross Lake Michigan after more than 36 hours in the water. The AP reports an online tracker showed Jim Dreyer returned to Grand Haven, Michigan, where he started his planned 82-mile swim to Wisconsin on Monday night. Per Fox17, he was apparently pulled from the water just before 11am on Wednesday. Dreyer, 61, has tried four times since 2023 to swim across Lake Michigan, including an effort just a few weeks ago, but has been unsuccessful due to lake conditions or other factors. He managed the feat in 1998.

Sep 2, 2024 10:00 AM CDT

An ultra swimmer says he will try again to cross Lake Michigan, from Michigan to Wisconsin, just a few weeks after trouble with a GPS device forced him to give up after 60 miles. Jim Dreyer says he will set off early Monday evening in Grand Haven. He says the journey to Milwaukee will cover at least 80 miles in the water and last 72 hours or more, the AP reports. Dreyer, 61, will also be towing a small inflatable boat with supplies.

"Sorry for the last-minute notice, but chaos is often part of this open water swimming game," he said on Facebook. He also posted "Here I Go Again," a 1987 power ballad video by Whitesnake. Dreyer, who calls himself "The Shark," crossed Lake Michigan in 1998, starting in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and finishing in Ludington, Michigan. But three attempts to do it again have been unsuccessful since 2023. His last effort began on Aug. 6. The next day, he paused to get fresh AA batteries to keep a GPS device working. But during the process, Dreyer said he somehow lost the bag in the lake.

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He had only a compass and nature to help him try to keep moving west. But Dreyer ended up swimming north instead, burning precious time and adding more miles as risky weather approached. A support crew pulled him out of Lake Michigan on Aug. 8. "What a blow!" Dreyer said at the time.

(More Lake Michigan stories.)