HOLLAND, Michigan — A Holland man will attempt to swim across Lake Michigan this summer to raise money for the Holland Aquatic Center (HAC).
Bryan Huffman, 50, swam across the English Channel in 2022 and now he has his eyes set on conquering the big lake to the west.
Huffman announced that he will be attempting the more than 50-mile swim this August.
He plans on starting the swim at Rawley Point Lighthouse, just north of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and finishing at Big Sable Point Lighthouse just north of Ludington, Michigan.
While the distance in a straight line is about 50 miles, the actual swim is likely to be closer to 60 miles due to currents in the lake.
The swim, dubbed "Bryan’s Big Lake Swim," is almost twice as long as the 37-mile swim across the English Channel Huffman undertook in October of 2022.
“After I trained for the English Channel swim, and completed it, I thought, ‘Now what?’” says Huffman, an ophthalmologist, “Having Lake Michigan in my backyard made it the obvious choice (to swim across next). And this time, I decided I would have a bigger reason for swimming. I want to raise enough money so that swim lessons are affordable for anyone who wants them at HAC.”
Huffman hopes to raise at least $12,000 for the Holland Aquatic Center's swim lesson program so they can provide free lessons to whoever wants them.
“When I hear that drowning is the number one cause of death in children aged 1-4 in the U.S., and the number 2 cause of death, second to car accidents, for children 5-15, I figured I could help decrease that in the most meaningful way I know how: swimming,” Huffman explains. “We live in a lakeshore community, where every child is exposed to the risk of drowning. Our goal is to remove barriers that prevent ‘waterproofing’ kids in our community, and to eliminate drowning from the top 10 causes of childhood death in our region.”
The swim will be conducted under the rules of the Marathon Swim Federation and Channel Swimming Association. Those rules state that "the swimmer cannot leave the water, be held afloat by any means, must begin onshore and clear the water at the end of the swim under their own power, and must wear a standard swimsuit that does not extend onto the legs, provide any floatation, or thermal protection."
Huffman believes that the swim is expected to take between 24 and 30 hours, depending on lake conditions.
After Huffman completes his swim across the lake, he plans on swimming across the remaining Great Lakes and swimming across the Catalina Channel in California over the next three years.
You can donate to Bryan's Big Lake Swim and follow the countdown to when it begins, here.
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