Holland physician raises 1000’s for teenagers swim classes

HOLLAND, Mich. — Bryan Huffman, a Holland-based ophthalmologist, is making waves in West Michigan with a marketing campaign to make sure each baby within the area learns how one can swim.

Swimming has lengthy been part of Huffman’s life, courting again to center and highschool.

“In college, I started doing triathlons, and I coached in the summers at Blythefield Country Club,” stated Huffman at Tunnel Park in Holland, Monday.

That ardour for swimming was interrupted by life.

Swimming for a trigger: Holland physician raises 1000’s for teenagers swim classes

“When I got into med school, it started going year round, and that was the end of my swim coaching,” Huffman stated. “And I really didn’t swim for, like, over 20 years.”

The COVID-19 pandemic gave Huffman time to return to swimming.

“That’s when I kind of started with the goal of swimming the English Channel,” Huffman stated. “I started in August of 2020, and my goal was to swim the length of Lake Macatawa by the end of the summer. And I was able to do that by the end of the summer.”

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Huffman accomplished the swim throughout the English Channel in 2022 and located inspiration from Vicki Keith, the primary lady to swim throughout all 5 Great Lakes.

“She’s from Canada, and she did it in 1988 … in one summer, which is crazy difficult,” Huffman stated. “But in doing it, she ran a swim program for disabled kids, and so she decided to raise money for that. Between those swims and the next summer, she did the English Channel and Catalina Channel, both butterfly the entire way across, she raised $1.2 million for swim lessons for kids.”

It’s a trigger Huffman is emulating.

Huffman household

“Drowning is the number one cause of death for kids one to four, and it’s second only to car accidents in kids five through 14,” Huffman stated. “So it happens all the time, and it happens all the time right here in Lake Michigan.”

For the previous three years, Huffman has been fundraising by way of marathon swims. The proceeds go towards swim lesson scholarships on the Holland Aquatic Center.

“We’ve raised up to about $70,000 now … And I’m hoping to hit at least six figures with swims next year, and maybe continuing on after that, maybe not even me as the swimmer, but with other people swimming too,” defined Huffman.

Huffman household

His swims embrace the Triple Crown; the English Channel, the Catalina Channel in California, the 20 Bridges Swim round Manhattan, making him first Michigan resident to finish it in open water swimming.

He’s additionally swam throughout Lake Erie, Lake Huron and, most just lately, a 20-mile crossing of western Lake Superior.

“We went to the Western crossing, which is between Two Harbors, Minnesota to Port Wing, Wisconsin,” Huffman stated. “We beat the record by two hours. So we made 11 hours, 16 minutes and 34 seconds. I was thrilled to have that be able to do that.”

Huffman household

Huffman credit his household and his workforce for his or her help.

“My wife, Stacy, definitely, she’s my main supporter on my swims and just dealing with all the logistics of the swims and things like that,” Huffman stated. “But there’s a whole team at the Aquatic Center I’ve got, my coach, Mike. Jen and Jennica coach at the Aquatic Center as well, and then I have a whole team that goes with me on each of the swims to help with just logistics.”

Huffman plans to proceed swimming and you may study extra and help his journey, here.

Alina Hauter/FOX 17 News

“I think everybody, when you get too many miles into a swim like this, you just want to quit, but you just have to want to finish more than you want to quit,” he stated.

The Holland Aquatic Center Foundation will have a good time Huffman’s accomplishments with a press convention Thursday, Sept. 25, at 5:30 p.m. within the Fishbowl convention room on the Holland Aquatic Center.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been transformed to this platform with the help of AI. Our editorial workforce verifies all reporting on all platforms for equity and accuracy.

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