ALGONAC, Mich. — Swimming 22 miles across a lake with no support boat sounds like a nearly impossible journey, but it’s one that Jim Dreyer is undertaking nonetheless.
Dreyer recently announced he plans to make this ‘Strength Swim’ alone without a support boat across Lake St. Clair.
On August 5, he started his swim across the lake from the northeast side, and was scheduled to arrive at Belle Isle in Detroit at 2:00 p.m. on August 6. You can track his progress by clicking here. You can also find him on Facebook right here.
While swimming, Dreyer will be pulling a ton of bricks, which will be sold to benefit Habitat for Humanity. He’ll have two dinghies with him, filled only with the supplies he needs to keep him alive.
“Yes, I am scared,” he said. “I’m very well-trained, I’ve done my homework and I understand the risks going into it.”
Dreyer says he has been training since October for the 22-mile swim to Detroit.
“Nobody has felt more pain than the state of Michigan, and nobody has felt more pain in the state of Michigan than Detroit,” Dreyer said. “I’m pulling these ton of bricks to show that together there’s strength in numbers, and we can pull together, and we can pull ourselves out of this.”
Dreyer trains for the journey by pulling a 20-gallon bucket on his swims.
He’s going to battle sleep deprivation and exertion and says he has to keep his mind sharp, because there will be no one out in the water to help him.
Dreyer will also be navigating around freighters in the black waters.
“I know that night is going to be tough, because it’s hard to stay awake, everything that’s been happening, if hypothermia is setting in.”
