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.

This Labor Day weekend was a rollercoaster — from fog-covered sunrise swims on glassy Lake Wawasee to the roar of cheers from strangers on their docks, to crashing hard just two days later with sickness that forced me to stop. Training isn’t always clean or easy, and this log captures the raw truth of what it looks like to chase big goals while balancing community, family, and recovery.