Home waters, childhood docks, a finish line farther than planned. Pride and cheers carried me into history.

Horns, sirens, tears in goggles. Seventeen miles later, I crawled out lighter than I began. Changed forever.

On September 17, 2025, I became the first to complete a 17-mile open-water swim around Lake Wawasee. Nine hours and 20 minutes of endurance, hypothermia, and pure grit — cheered on by over 300 people from docks and boats. This Lap the Lake journey is more than a swim — it’s the beginning of my book, Beyond the Buoy, a mile-by-mile story of pushing past limits and making history.