Liz Fry’s 3rd Swim In The Great Lakes – Delayed

Courtesy of Marcia Cleveland, Lake Michigan.

International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer Elizabeth Fry is going for her third lake swim in a Great Lake.

In August 2016, she participated in the inaugural 20 km Embrace the Challenge, a cross border swim of Lake Erie between Canada and the USA. In that same year in September, she completed a 50.5 km crossing of Lake Ontario from the USA to Canada in 15 hours 46 minutes at the age of 58. Two years later in 2018, she completed a 55.5 km crossing of Lake Huron in 20 hours 54 minutes 54 seconds from Michigan, USA to Ontario, Canada at the age of 59.

Originally scheduled to start at 3 pm local time, the 61-year-old Fry will attempt a 57.1 km crossing of Lake Michigan from Promontory Point in Chicago to Washington Beach Park in Michigan City, Indiana sometime this week. Fellow Hall of Famer Marcia Cleveland predicts her swim will take between 20 and 24 hours.

Cleveland explains more, “The start for Liz’s Across Lake Michigan Swim has been delayed at least 24 hours. The water is just too rough right now due to an unpredicted change in the weather and wind. Liz will be swimming against cross currents the whole time. The prevailing current in Lake Michigan is north to south. This is the first time a cross-lake swim has started from the iconic Promontory Point.

I don’t know where Ted Erikson and Jon Erikson started their cross Lake Michigan swims from, but I suspect it was either Oak St Beach or Museum Point. My research unearthed nothing, but Jon Erikson took over 19 hours, hence my prediction of 20 – 24 hours for Liz. There used to be a race from Benton Harbor/St Joseph to Chicago, but no firm landing point was stated in the 1960s that took over 30 hours.

This is, to my knowledge, the first time this 35.5-mile course has been swum. I wanted to pick a starting point that screams Chicago, can be replicated from either direction, and is especially visible when coming due west. The corner of Promontory Point fits the bill since it is bracketed by the Museum of Science & Industry (the only building still standing from the World’s Fair in 1898) on the southern side and downtown Chicago on the northern side. There is also a swim group that goes off this Point and the water is just beautiful.”

Her swim can be tracked here.

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