Evanston Swimmers Cross Lake Michigan For Cancer Research

When a group of Evanston-based swimmers kicks off from Ohio Street Beach at midnight on July 20, they will wear glowsticks attached to their goggles and reflectors on the backs of their suits, prepared to spend the next 18 to 20 hours on the open waters of Lake Michigan.

They will swim through waves and wind and darkness before making landfall 40 miles later on a beach in Southern Michigan. 

Called “Open Water on Lee,” the group of seven swimmers is undertaking the relay swim across Lake Michigan as part of Swim Across America, a group that raises money for cancer research, prevention and treatment through swimming events. Swim Across America has organized an open water swim in the lake off Ohio Street Beach for the past several years. This is the first year, however, that teams will be attempting the swim across the lake. 

“Since we start at midnight, we’re going to have five or six hours of swimming in the dark, and so it’s going to put us in the middle, or at least close to the middle, where we can no longer see any of the landmarks we’re used to seeing,” says group member and Evanston resident Michelle Milne. “I think there’s going to be times where we can’t see the south shore.” 

Milne founded the swimming group Open Water On Lee, for which the relay team is named, about five or six years ago. She and other swimmers from Evanston swim together off Lee Street Beach in the summer, some in spring and fall.  While some people like the structure and sameness of swimming in a pool, Milne says she and the other members of Open Water On Lee love the challenge and variability of swimming outside, in open water. 

“Nothing is ever the same. Sometimes the waves are huge, sometimes the lake is glass. It’s wonderfully, beautifully uncontrollable,” she says. 

“You get to have geese fly over your head almost at hands’ reach in fall,” Milne continues. “And I’ve swam into groups of ducks.” 

According to Milne, it’s tough to train for the 40-mile swim across the lake because conditions are so unpredictable. However, the group plans to do some night swims and may do a swim far out in the middle of the lake.

“We try to be in as good of shape as we possible can and be as mentally prepared for any possible condition as we can,” she says. 

Depending on the currents and how much wind there is, each team member will swim about 6 miles, Milne says. Of the seven members in the group, four are from Evanston. Other members include Leslie Holling, John Schoser, Chip Gilbertson,  John Martin and Melodee Nugent.

Fellow Evanston resident and team captain Chip Gilbertson says the group’s goal is to raise $50,000 to support cancer research at Rush Medical Center. As of Tuesday, July 2, they had raised $25,000.

“Our idea is to continue this as not just a one-time event but to keep a group alive that continues to swim for charity and do things because it’s what we love to do,” says Gilbertson.

To learn more about Open Water On Lee and to donate toward their goal of $50,000 for cancer research, visit the group’s website.