WHITEHALL, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Aug. 10, 2026) – It was “mission accomplished” on Saturday night for Jim Dreyer.
The ultra-marathon swimmer from Spring Lake concluded a 22-mile-plus effort from a point in Lake Michigan into White Lake in Muskegon County, arriving around 10 PM at Goodrich Park in Whitehall. He was towing 249 six-pound cannonballs in two dinghies, along with one on his back to honor his late father, in celebrating this nation’s 250th birthday, to raise funds for the construction of a US 250th Combat Veterans Memorial in Whitehall, and to raise awareness of the current daily average of 22 suicides by veterans nationally.
It took Dreyer about 30 hours to complete the journey, which included a time out of the water on Saturday afternoon, when he was drifting southward on Lake Michigan, away from his target entrance of White Lake Channel, and had to be taken by a support boat to a spot back on the path. His arrival was a fitting climax to the three-day White Lake Area Maritime Festival, which was returning after a 14-year hiatus.
Dreyer, who turns 63 later this month, has successfully crossed all five Great Lakes during his nearly three-decade career as a marathon swimmer.
Comments