The recent attempt by Bryan Huffman to become the first person to swim from Wisconsin to Michigan without a wetsuit did not end with the desired victorious landing. Due to mechanical issues with the support boat, the swim ended prematurely after Huffman swam 12 of the 50 miles he intended to complete. The entire time Bryan swam against a STRONG current. The crew performed spectacularly. They overcame several obstacles and were able to repair a ruptured hydraulic hose to restore the lost steering while at sea, allowing everyone to return safely to shore.
Bryan’s Big Lake Swim was not a failure, however. One of our main goals was to raise awareness of the importance of swimming lessons for children in our lakeshore community. We have been able to raise enough to cover a significant number of swim lessons for kids at HAC. As of today, generous donors have provided $25,105 to this effort.
Additionally, this will not be Huffman’s last swim to raise funds for HAC’s swim lesson scholarships. In fact, he will be swimming the 28-mile-long 20 Bridges Swim around New York City on Thursday, September 28. Hopefully, people will be inspired by these swims and continue to support swim lessons for kids in West Michigan at HAC.
Holland Aquatic Center will host a press conference with Bryan on Wednesday, August 16, at 2:30 p.m. Members of the media who would like to attend are asked to reach out to Aquatic Center General Manager, Amanda Duimstra at amanda@hollandaquatic.org to RSVP.
Learn more about this campaign at: www.hollandaquatic.org/big-lake-swim
