MICHIGAN, USA — A West Michigan man's attempt to swim from Wisconsin to Michigan without a wetsuit was called off before the halfway point this weekend.
Bryan Huffman, 50, was in the water for about 13 hours, swimming about 12 of the 50 miles he had set out to complete.
"After 40 minutes of treading water next to the boat, I was getting quite cold. I learned from the crew that we had only made it 12 miles from shore. I swam closer to 25, but due to a strong current against us, there were periods where I was nearly swimming in place. While we were stopped for repair, we drifted backwards 2 miles," Huffman said in a Facebook post.
"At that point, with a limping boat, hypothermia, and an unrelenting current that would likely make the crossing impossible, I decided it was time to stop. Any single obstacle was possibly surmountable, but all put together, combined with some serious fatigue, it was time to call it."
Appropriately named Bryan's Big Lake Swim, the attempt had the goal of raising funds for the Holland Aquatic Center's swim lesson scholarships.
While he didn't have the Ludington landing he had hoped, the effort raised more than $25,000 for the swim center.
He plans to continue swimming to raise money at 20 Bridges on Sept. 28, which is an open water swim along the Hudson River.
Huffman is an ophthalmologist from Holland, Michigan, and previously swam across the English Channel in 2022.
You can learn more about Huffman's big lake swim here.
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