GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Jim "The Shark" Dreyer is attempting his fourth swim across Lake Michigan on Monday.
The swimmer is embarking on his 80-plus-mile journey from the Grand Haven shores to Milwaukee.
"I made it in 1998. I swam the length of Lake Michigan in 2003," Dreyer explained. "I wanted to swim 25 miles further, 25 years later, and yes, I guess I'm 25 years older, but I still have to get that done."
A few weeks ago, the ultra-marathon swimmer made a similar attempt but had trouble out on the lake after attempting to switch out the batteries in his GPS.
"Oh my God, I got enough to change batteries in all these electronics five times," Dreyer said. "It's overkill with the batteries. They are all located in different places. So if something gets pitched overboard, there is some in other locations."
The freshwater shark won't have a spotter boat with him like he had last year.
"There's a huge difference between an escorted swim and a ... self-sufficient swim," Dreyer said. "Your crew is absolutely great. They're indispensable. But sometimes, when they're out there with you, [they're] responsible for 8 to 10 other lives."
He will have a small inflatable boat towing behind him as he swims, full of supplies for his journey across the Great Lake.
"You're pulling the weight of all your own supplies. You have to feed yourself. Your batteries go dead. You have to change your battery. Something breaks. You got to fix it. So I got a bunch of MacGyver stuff on there; you have to do everything yourself. You have to drink the lake water. You filter it," Dreyer said.
This swim will be a continuous one, which means no sleep, and that has its challenges.
"The hallucinations set in the second night. You start seeing wild, wild things, and you have to logically tell yourself not to believe your eyes. You have to go on logic, not what you're seeing, because what you're seeing, that's not real," he added.
The swimmer estimates if everything goes right this time, he'll be done in three days.
"I want to be successful; whether I'm successful or not, I believe I'm following what God wants me to do. ... That chases the fear away," Dreyer said.
You can track his swim here.
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