HOLLAND, Mich — A group of six West Michigan swimmers is taking to the water for a nearly 60-mile trip across Lake Michigan.
The event, dubbed Epic Swim 2020, was a brainchild of organizer and swimmer Jon Ornee.
The Holland athlete told 13 ON YOUR SIDE an extended relay had been on his mind for years.
"I've been dreaming about this for seven years," Ornee said, adding that the now felt like the right moment to dive in, "...2020 is a bit of a bizarre year. One of the bizarre things is an absence of sports and an absence of good news at times, so we're inviting people along to kind of fill the gap."
The group is set to take off Tuesday evening, weather permitting. The six men will start their adventure from Wisconsin, swimming relay style, overnight until they land in Ludington, Mich.
When swimmers aren’t taking their turn in the water, they will be in one of two boats the group brought on the journey.
The relay across Lake Michigan will be the first of it's kind. Ornee said the group has applications out to Guinness World Records and WOWSA, World Open Water Swimming Association in hopes of being recognized.
"No one has successfully done a relay swim the way that we're doing it. So it will be the first of its kind in that way, hopefully the fastest ever," he said.
Community members can keep up with the mens' progress on their Facebook page, Epic Swim 2020 and tracking them, here.
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