‘One tough swim’: The final check of endurance underneath the Mackinac Bridge

MACKINAC COUNTY, MI — After hours of swimming, the oldest swimmer within the Mackinac Bridge Swim got here ashore. His goggles had been stuffed with water and he was exhausted however glad.

“I’m glad that’s over,” he stated merely. “Wow, that’s tough.”

John Walker, 81, had simply accomplished an merchandise on his bucket checklist, swimming the Mackinac Straits subsequent to the Mackinac Bridge.

As the Wisconsin swimmer seemed throughout the 4 and a half miles of water to the Upper Peninsula from Mackinaw City the day earlier than, it appeared a bit a lot for him.

“I thought, ‘God, it’d be kind of relaxing to drive home and forget about it,’” he stated.

But the following morning, there he was at first line becoming a member of over 200 over swimmers for the 2025 Mackinac Bridge Swim. He accomplished it in just below three and a half hours, which he was fairly happy with.

As he got here ashore, Eric Hansen, the swim organizer or “Splash Coordinator” as he prefers, greeted him personally and helped him out of the water to cheers from the gang.

“The guy is just turning into an absolute living legend,” Hansen stated. “I’m just hoping to be alive at 81 and this guy is out swimming the Straits at 81 years of age.”

Walker isn’t achieved. He’s already signed up for subsequent yr.

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The Bucket List swim

The Mackinac Bridge Swim is the last word endurance check for a lot of swimmers. It’s robust, it’s lengthy, however the rewards are wealthy; the water is crystal clear and the view of the bridge itself is gorgeous.

“It is one tough swim. You can’t turn your back on the Straits for one minute,” Hansen stated. “Those currents can really take some of the fastest and stronger swimmers and make them look like beginners.”

The swim itself is straight ahead. Swimmers begin in Mackinaw City simply to the east of the bridge, after which they swim in a straight line with the bridge on their left till they hit a tunnel underneath the causeway on the north aspect. From there, they cross underneath I-75 and swim a pair hundred yards to the end at Bridge View Park the place they’re greeted by pleasant volunteers on the “I Did It” line.

The sheer size of the swim and the sturdy present between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are what make it troublesome. Conditions can change hour to hour and generally minute to minute.

The swim is lengthy sufficient and onerous sufficient that it’s not only a bodily problem, however a psychological one, particularly for swimmers who primarily prepare in indoor swimming pools. Hansen strongly advises swimmers to coach to swim for six miles, and to get open water expertise in waves.

What does it take to be a Mackinac Bridge swimmer?

“Perseverance, determination, and a whole lot of heart.” Hansen stated. “Your brain will want to quit, but your heart will keep knocking on the brain saying that you can’t.”

This yr, the climate situations had been excellent for a crossing. There was little wind, and the water temperature was 70 levels in some locations, which is sort of heat for the Straits. Even so, the present was sturdy within the center, forcing a sustained effort from the swimmers to keep up their line.

For Anne Petruzzi, an skilled bridge swimmer from Grand Rapids with three crossings prior, it simply wasn’t her day. Early on, she had hassle respiration and received into one of many security boats that line the course. She was in a position to leap again in on the North Tower to swim the previous few miles.

She was swimming along with her daughter Maddie, a powerful 17-year-old highschool rower who powered by way of the Straits to the causeway on the north aspect of the bridge earlier than getting leg cramps. She additionally received help from a security boat however nonetheless completed the swim alongside her mom.

It wasn’t how they needed to finish the swim, in order that they have already signed up for subsequent yr.

“It’s how you react to that is what makes you the person you are and which, with Anne? She she’ll be fine. She’ll be back,” Hansen stated.

“It’s become ingrained in part of the fabric of my being at this point,” Anne Petruzzi stated.

All coronary heart

For Hansen, the swim is private.

In 2016, Hansen signed up for the Mighty Mac Swim, a earlier model of the Straits swim run by Michigan swimmer legend Jim “The Shark” Dreyer. Hansen was initially rejected as he didn’t have sufficient open water expertise however when Dryer heard his story, he gave Hansen a shot.

“I was heavily favored not to finish that swim,” Hansen stated. “I don’t know what got me through other than my heart, because it was not my arms. It wasn’t my legs. I was hallucinating by the time I even hit the finish line.”

Four hours and two minutes later, Hansen was the ultimate swimmer out of the water. He was emotional, and it was a defining second in his journey from smoker to athlete.

Today, Hansen now runs the swim with a devoted core of volunteers. Hansen doesn’t lead quietly, his coronary heart exhibits in every thing he does.

“Eric Hanson is just the biggest-hearted guy you could ever meet,” Anne Petruzzi stated. “He puts on this swim just out of, like, pure love for the swimming community.”

One method he exhibits that love is by making the medals that every bridge swimmer receives as they end. It’s a small piece of metal from the Mackinac Bridge itself, from worn out items of grate that the Bridge Authority sells as collector’s objects. Hansen cuts them all the way down to dimension with a grinder, and dips them into polyurethane to make the colour pop. Many of the medals nonetheless have the distinctive inexperienced paint from the bridge.

“People say it’s their favorite metal ever,” Hansen stated. “It’s just a chunk of steel, but it’s made out of the Mackinac Bridge.”

An excellent trigger

The swim is a fundraiser for first responders in Northern Michigan. Most of the cash goes to the volunteer fireplace departments in St. Ignace and Mackinaw City. For Hansen, it simply is sensible that the swim helps individuals who assist folks.

“When you meet people (who) are willing to jump out of bed 24/7 to come rip you out of a burning building, save your life, how can you not love that person?” Hansen stated. “I just think we need to leave everything that we raise behind.

“There’s no way I can take a body of water like that in a location like that and want to be someone that wants to make money off the event. That’s the backyard to St. Ignace and the front yard, Mackinaw City. And I think anything that comes out of that ought to be distributed equally to both shores there.”

The first yr he ran the swim in 2022, Hansen donated about $3,000. The subsequent yr it was round $30,000, and final yr it was $56,000. This yr he hit his purpose of elevating $100,000 and reduce a examine for $50,000 to every fireplace division, an enormous milestone for the swim.

“It definitely helps offset our budget for the year,” Mackinaw City Fire Chief John Krueger stated. “Our budget roughly every year is right around $150,000. That’s for the whole department for the year. So that’s quite a significant chunk of change.”

The cash final yr helped restore the town’s ladder truck, one of many largest fireplace rigs in Northern Michigan.

After the swim this yr, Mackinaw City honored Hansen with a proclamation and the fireplace division made him an honorary fireplace chief, full along with his personal fireplace helmet.

“I think I cried for quite a bit,” Hansen stated. “And then I slept with it the next three nights.”

The work to placed on the swim is immense and Hansen already has a full time job, however offering alternatives for folks like John Walker and serving to Northern Michigan first responders retains him doing it.

“It’s just part of my life now. I couldn’t even imagine day-to-day life now without the Mackinac Bridge,” he stated. “I’m so proud of it.”

When the final swimmer arrived on shore, Hansen was there to have a good time them with an enormous hug. As a self-described “back of the packer,” he is aware of what it’s like and makes certain to have a good time their accomplishment simply as a lot as anybody else’s.

“I don’t care if you skip across or if we have to pull you across,” Hansen stated. “You’re all a swimmer to me.”

To watch a video on the swim, click here.