Jim Dreyer

Jim Dreyer (born August 16, 1963 in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

), also known as 'The Shark', is an

ultra marathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

athlete, because his swimming accomplishments are often tied to extensive running and cycling feats. He swam across various lakes, among others: *

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

, in 1998 *

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

in 1999 *

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

, as part of a duathlon in 2000 *

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

, as part of an "

Ironman Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to: *Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer *Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter *Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician *Mick Murphy ...

-distance plus" triathlon, in 2000 *

full length, est. , in 2003 *

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

, in 2005 Dreyer has set various records on those distances and has won multiple marathon and triathlon awards. His swimming accomplishments have all been achieved with a wetsuit, and some swims have been done unaccompanied. These facts cause some dispute for establishing world marathon swimming records, as FINA, Channel swimming, and other marathon swimming rules do not allow unaccompanied or wetsuit swims to compete with standard swim records

On August 28, 2006, Dreyer began an attempt to set a record for the longest continuous swim in the open sea. Dreyer plans to make an estimated 31 crossings totalling of the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connects ...

. Dubbed "Dire Straits 125", the feat is estimated to take 84 to 96 hours. Through his swimming projects he tries to raise funds and awareness for the

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth". Adult volunteers are matched with children from ag ...

. Jim is now living in Batesville, IN and successfully selling real estate. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyer, Jim 1963 births Living people American male triathletes American long-distance swimmers American male swimmers