…well...it was a lake but it felt like an ocean…
Somewhere in 2017, my brother says to me, “Want to wake up early and get on a boat with Dad so I can swim across Little Bay de Noc?” I, thinking he was nuts but am always down for an adventure, replied, “Yup. Sounds like the perfect amount of crazy.” So, he did it. A little over 3 miles, we boated along side, dropping banana pieces off the side of the boat, trying to steer him in a straight line across the bay of Lake Michigan. We arrived to a small crowd (it was probably only like 10 people but in the U.P. of Michigan, that counts as a crowd) noticing what he was doing and started cheering along side as he came to the finish line. Yes, this was an accomplishment. He should be proud. But as he climbed into the boat, I could tell ... this was just the beginning.
Fast forward a couple years and wouldn’t you know it, I was right. He said “when we go home to visit Mom and Dad, I want to try to swim across Big Bay.” So, training began. This part is the part I’m not clear on ... I mean, I’m sure there was swimming involved but the only training I do is how many tacos can I eat and still be able to walk home. Brother and sister...polar opposites.
The week of August 12th, we make the drive from the Twin Cities (Minnesota) to the U.P... car full of his kids, wife, dog... and me. This was the trip it was going to happen. The marathon swim. 6+ miles mapped out across Big Bay de Noc, MI. Constantly checking water temperatures, weather and wind. Have you ever met someone obsessed with wind? I have and let me tell you, it’s weird. While I’m scrolling through my Instagram feed liking photos of my friends at happy hour or dogs doing cute things, my brother was like, “the wind looks like it’s going to calm down tomorrow” and my response being something similar to “Did you know that the Howe restaurant has wine slushees?” Polar. Opposites.
Before the big day, my brother asked me to be the “Official Observer” of the swim. This not only came with a fun list of tasks but also, it required me being aware of the rules of the Marathon Swim Federation ... to which, I took very seriously and can even rattle of the date the rules haven’t changed since (1875) and the date this federation became official (2012). Ask me the rules. I. dare. you. All of a sudden, this became very real. Not only to me, but to his friends who drove into town to help drive the boat and navigate this swim but also to his wife. She was the official “safety officer” on this treck as he couldn’t wear a wet suit and the water was consistently at 67 degrees. Woof. So, a slight, quiet panic shifted through the house. We realized this was happening and it could potentially have two very different endings.
The morning of, everyone is in high spirits. My brother quietly looking serious like he is getting his head in the game but equally looking like he is about pee his pants from excitement, his buddies cracking jokes about having to poop off the side of the boat (this is real...and it happened), his wife running through the checklist of questions she is going to ask him while he is taking food and hydration breaks to check for hypothermia and me, somewhere between “holy crap ...do I know what latitude and longitude even mean?” and “what if I also have to poop during the boat ride?”
We head on our way around 6:30am, boat loaded with the crew’s snacks which consisted of chips and cookies and his snacks which consisted of bananas and peanut butter sandwiches (clearly one of us is actually doing the dang thing) and then we stop. We are at the point where we are dropping off my brother. The air was crisp, I can’t even imagine how the water felt, and before you know it, he was lathering on sunscreen, Vaseline and jumping in the water. Now, as official observer, I have to start paying attention to location, his stroke rate, etc. But as micro managing sister, I also set a timer on my phone for every 30 minutes when he was going to need to hydrate or eat food. At this point my thought was “What if HE needs to poop during the swim?” (Have I talked about poop enough yet?)
He is off. He is doing great. The boat, however, was a mess. Between disagreeing on how to read a GPS (once they started listening to me, we got on course. ‘Sup Kelsey and Corey? 😜) and then losing Tyler in the fog, the first half hour was chaos. 30 minutes go by, time to load up the snack bag (attached to a rope, this was how we were getting food and beverage to him without him having to get too close to the boat. Did we get smarter since the last swim? Yes, yes we did.) We stop him, he treads water, we all put on a brave face and he cracks a joke asking for directions and pretending we are all strangers. Tension breaks, he hydrates and we all go on our way. The fog lifts, the boat crew starts telling funny stories, the men start fishing, we can see our little white bobber friend (he was wearing a white swim cap) clearly and we are on course. Perfect day.
The next couple hours was a series of us stopping every 30 minutes, alternating between feeding and hydrating our friend, jumping off the boat to pee (holy crap the water was cold), asking Tyler funny questions to see if he was slurring his words ... and then it happens. Tyler asks “am I half way yet?” He isn’t. Almost, but no. He is only 1/3 of the way. His friend, Kelsey, without skipping a beat says “Yeah bud, you’re killing it.” Now, I had since taken over the GPSing to our checkpoints Tyler had mapped out so no, his friend wasn’t paying attention and he was also the “Chief Spirit Officer” of the swim so I know he meant well but I also knew...the last 2/3 of this trip were going to feel like the longest ever because my brother thought he was half way done. Another woof.
His pace stayed consistent, his spirits turned less into funny jokes and more into “how much further” and us on the boat kept getting our minds blown that “he is going to do the damn thing.” One stop, actually the last stop Tyler ate any food (for good reason and I’m about to tell you why), the dang kid choked on a peanut butter sandwich. Now, I’m not sure how many of you reading this have tried to eat a sandwich while treading water, but it doesn’t seem to be any easy task. For me, since I feel like all my taco eating has giving me my own personal floatation devices, I think it could be a piece of cake. But for a guy who trains to swim across a Bay, he is built as much to float as a bolder, trying to eat while staying afloat looked painful. So, he would shove the whole sandwich in his mouth at one time so he could use both arms to stay above water. And then, he sucks in. Sucks what I imagine to be the entire dang sandwich and the ocean (Lake Michigan) into his lungs and proceeds to have the coughing fit of his life. Of course he did. He is coughing so forcefully I swear he was about to puke or pass out, but then...he coughs so hard, we hear him suck in air, puts his goggles back on, and without saying a word starts to swim again. He. Is. Over. It.
The sun came out for the last couple hours of the swim which made it actually breath taking weather wise (later to find out that Tyler had the “I’ve got a pocket got a pocket full of sunshine” song stuck in his head to which he only knows those exact lyrics and those few words were on repeat. Poor guy), the water was calm.
We get to a check point that was about three checkpoints away from his finish line, he hydrated with an electrolyte filled water mixed with warm water we brought in a thermos trying to keep him warm and this is when I knew he would succeed. He said to us, “this is the last time I’m stopping until I hit that shore.” We all respond “Are you sure? That’s like an hour and half without stopping.” But before we could ask questions, he was back at it.
This last hour and half the dialog on the boat when something like this:
Person 1: “He is going to do it.”
Person 2: “Yeah, swim across Big Bay.”
Person 3: “I wouldn’t have made it a half mile.” **and then repeat that every 10 minutes or so**
He gets to the point where you can see the bottom of the lake and I can tell he knows he is close to the finish. His pace slightly increases and I have never heard 3 people cheer as loud as the crew did knowing our brother, husband, best friend had accomplished a huge milestone goal. Congrats, bro!
My only remaining question as the Official Observer is, when is the Taco Marathon Federation going to be a thing?
This story has also been featured in the Daily Press. Watch the recap video below!