HOLLAND, Mich. — Dr. Bryan Huffman uses the term "marathon" to describe his training, but what he's working towards is much larger than that.
"I do about a half marathon, which a marathon and swimming is six miles," said Dr. Huffman. "I'm going to swim across Lake Michigan that I'm hoping to do in about a month."
His goal is to start at Rawley Point, Wisconsin and finish in Ludington. But he's not just swimming the 51 miles across the lake for sport.
"We want to get swim lessons for kids," said Dr. Huffman. "We we live here in West Michigan, there's water everywhere. As a kid growing up here, you can't avoid being exposed to water somewhere."
While raising awareness about swimming, he's hoping to raise $12,000 for swimming lessons at the Holland Aquatic Center.
"Teaching swimming lessons is really the heart of what we've done here for decades," said Amanda Duimstra, General Manager at the Holland Aquatic Center. "And so doing that for everyone, regardless of again, financial situation, or what they're where they might be coming from, we want to be able to serve all people."
Bryan's Big Lake Swim, as the center calls it, could give hundreds of kids free swim lessons.
"So it all starts with first learning to swim which is a really important safety measure, but then also can turn into a lifelong love of the water and being safe around the waters," said Duimstra. "That's cool."
So what makes Dr. Huffman so confident that he swim across Lake Michigan?
"In October, I swam the English Channel," said Dr. Huffman. "We went to England to go do this swim. It's about 22 miles across. It's a tough swim. It's 12 hours and 19 minutes."
While this swim won't be any easier, he's excited to take on the challenge.
"The goal of this one really is to just try to raise money to make a difference here for West Michigan and hopefully get drowning out of the top 10 causes of death for kids in West Michigan," said Dr. Huffman.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and on your phone.