03/25/2007

Part 1 of 5

Dire Straits, indeed

Swimmer Jim Dreyer knows the fine line between life and death

By Garret Ellison

gellison@record-eagle.com

Photo courtesy of Brian Kelly
In August 2006, swimmer Jim Dreyer’s heart stopped briefly after his attempt to swim the Straits of Mackinac 31 consecutive times.

See related story:

• Dreyer may base next swim from TC - March 25, 2007

More stories in this series:

• TC's Thomas went from 5K to 100-mile ultra race - March 29, 2007
• Year-round training is the name of the game - March 28, 2007
• Climber, runner Brian Lea has eye on Mt. McKinley - March 27, 2007
• A father and daughter take on the Antarctica Marathon - March 26, 2007

BYRON CENTER — The fine line between life and death is a place that Jim Dreyer knows all too well.

A 43-year-old ultra marathon swimmer and Ironman tri-athlete known as "The Shark,” Dreyer was rushed to the emergency room, where his heart stopped briefly after emerging from the Straits of Mackinac last August. His body was literally running on empty after forgoing his better judgment and pressing on without adequate nutrition.

"They were cutting the suit off me and getting ready with the defibrillator,” said Dreyer, who holds over a dozen world records in speed, distance and endurance swimming on every Great Lake. "One of my last thoughts while I was still conscious was, 'I may have done it this time'.”

The event was the "Dire Straits 2006” and Dreyer, who swims for Big Brothers, Big Sisters charity, was attempting 31 consecutive crossings of the Straits of Mackinaw — a cold channel plagued by a strong current — swimming for over 125 miles without an escort boat. Unfortunately, he had to bag it after 40 miles, and that nearly killed him.

"I didn't have a full blown cardiac issue until they got me to the emergency room, which is good. If you're going to have one, that's where you want have it,” he said. "But, yeah, the heart did stop there for a short period.”

Battling shoulder pain and nausea, Dreyer focused on a 40 mile finish, figuring "a nice round even number might bring in some more pledges for BBBS, and I was at 37 miles.”

He needed food, but "what I didn't stop to think about was, I could swim another three miles without nutrition, but I needed that nutrition to survive when I got out of the water,” he said. "So, when I got out of the water I had nothing left.”

Quite a story for a guy who's first swimming lesson was 10 years ago. In fact, Dreyer harbored a deep-seeded fear of the water since nearly drowning as a child. He grew up to be an adept runner, biker, cross-country skiier, martial artist and semi-pro baseball player. Swimming, however, scared him.

But fear is a strange thing. It can paralyze some and motivate others. Dreyer began taking lessons in 1996 and two years later had set his first Lake Michigan distance record, becoming the first to swim a mid-lake crossing between Wisconsin and Michigan. It was a grueling 41-hour, 65 mile journey equivalent to swimming three times the width of the English Channel. And it was only the beginning.

In 1999, he set a new speed and distance record for Lake Huron, swimming a 40-hour, 52 mile crossing. In July 2000, he took on Lake Erie, setting a new solo duathlon world distance record as the first to finish a double-digit mileage swim (30 miles across Lake Erie), and run a full 26-mile marathon, through mostly beach sand, in a continuous 27-hour affair.

And it gets better. The very next month, in August 2000, he set a solo triathlon world distance record on Lake Ontario — a 212- mile, 48-hour, running, biking and swimming event.

He twice set the Lake Superior distance record in 2001 and 2002, in four attempts to cross "Gitche Gumee.” Then came the massive, month-long, 18-stage journey in 2003 across the length of Lake Michigan — over 400 miles from Mackinaw City to Michigan City, Ind., while pulling the weight of his supplies in a kayak.

"It kind of set a whole new standard,” Dreyer said. "It was a whole new type of athlete. That's probably my big niche there.”

But he may best be remembered for the solo swim across Lake Superior in 2005. No boat. No rescue. Just Jim and a dinghy with supplies through a thunderstorm with 15 foot waves and 60 mile winds — the same wind and wave ferocity that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald — and a failed navigation system, to boot.

Those are the situations when you experience real, visceral fear, Dreyer said.

"It occurs to you, "My God this would be anybody's worst nightmare,' especially me, who had a lifelong fear of water,” he said. "How did I get from there to here?”

At these times, his initial drowning experience from childhood comes rushing back.

"It seems pretty surreal,” he said. "It's like the pendulum has swung completely the opposite direction — this fear of the open water was my life's greatest fear and now the open water is the playing field for my professional athletic career. It's quite a stretch.”

For those living on the edge, a practical knowledge of fear is a healthy thing, Dreyer said. Like anything else, dealing with it becomes easier as times goes on. People ask him if he's insane and he replies that he knows he's not because he still feels the bite of fear — he's just learned to control it.

But there's a danger inherent in becoming that intimate with your fear threshold. Sometimes, you may not realize when you're crossing an unseen line. He said doctors have told him several times, 'you were really close this time.'

"It becomes familiar to you, but you think, well, I've been here before and I was fine, I can push it a little further,” he said. "That's where it does get dangerous. We (a close friend Dreyer trains with) both realize there could come the time when we push it just a little bit too far.”