Traverse City native aims to swim Manitou Passage
First of its kind open-water swim to benefit local nonprofits
By Jacob Wheeler
This story published in our August 11 print edition of the Glen Arbor Sun.
“When you grow up here, you don’t think about the lake being part of who you are. You take it for granted,” said Traverse City native Jake Bright, a trained open-water swimmer and accomplished writer who covers global business, politics and technology and who currently lives in New York City. “When you visit places where the water isn’t clean, or there are things in the water that can eat you, you wish you were back in Michigan’s fresh water.
“I’ve never lost touch with being from northern Michigan.”
Late this month Bright will attempt a nearly 7-mile solo swim from Sleeping Bear Point to the South Manitou Island Lighthouse. If all goes well, his will be the first swim across the Manitou Passage that follows USA Swimming’s open-water rules. The date of his feat will depend on weather conditions, but he hopes to make the journey between Aug. 22 and Sept. 3.
“The incredible fresh water of Lake Michigan and the amazing beauty of the Sleeping Bear Dunes are central to my upbringing, so I want to do something inspiring and charitable to celebrate them,” he said.
Bright will use the swim to raise money for two local non-profit organizations—the North Manitou Light Keepers, whose mission is to restore and maintain the North Manitou Shoal Light, and FLOW (For Love of Water), a Traverse City-based law and policy center dedicated to ensuring the waters of the Great Lakes Basin are healthy, public, and protected for all. Donate here to support Bright’s effort.
“I’m a huge fan of both of these organizations and what they are doing to step up and help preserve and protect two things I love so much: Michigan’s fresh water and the Manitou Passage,” Bright said.
Depending on weather conditions, Bright expects the swim to take around three hours to complete in water temperatures ranging from 55 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. In accordance with USA Swimming open water rules, he will navigate by sight, wear an International Swimming Federation (FINA) approved wetsuit that provides marginal additional buoyancy, and use no aids such as fins, paddles, or flotation devices. A safety boat will accompany Bright but will provide no aid for the swim except for passing him fluids.
(In September 2019, Holland, Michigan, resident Jon Ornée swam from Pyramid Point to North Manitou Island in 2 hours and 50 minutes but wore fins after injuring his right elbow during a bike accident the previous May.)
The key for Bright will be sighting his target and navigating a straight line to the lighthouse without the aid of buoys. During a visit with his family to Leelanau County last summer, Bright went for test swims off the coast of Glen Haven. He committed to the South Manitou swim only once he felt comfortable sighting the lighthouse.
“If you don’t have something to sight with, it’s a difficult swim. You can make 100 meters turn into 200 meters,” said Bright. “Then imagine when the distance is 7 miles.”
Still, Bright cautions others who aren’t trained open-water swimmers from embarking on an adventure across the Manitou Passage, where colder temperatures in the deep water can change one’s core body temperature.
“I take this seriously. I want to discourage people from thinking this is some casual thing you do. You see the peaceful side of Lake Michigan in August, but the fury of her in November. People die in kayaks.”
Staff at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore dissuade these sorts of man vs. nature athletic quests because they worry others will be tempted to put themselves at risk.
“This is not a recreational activity that we recommend,” Sleeping Bear superintendent Scott Tucker said after Ornée’s swim three years ago.
Bright said the idea to swim to the islands got locked in his head years ago after he and a high school classmate canoed the Manitou Passage in the 1990s. He admitted that they were chided by a park ranger for doing so.
The adventure later this month also offers him an opportunity to reconnect with friends from his childhood. Bright once rode the school bus to Long Lake Elementary School with Jake Kaberle, current owner of Burritt’s Fresh Market in Traverse City and one of the founders of the North Manitou Light Keepers. (Read our November 2021 feature story about the North Manitou lighthouse’s renovation.) That led to Bright raising money for the Light Keepers through his upcoming swim.
He decided to also support FLOW, the law and policy center, in order “to connect the swim to something more about conservation of Michigan’s freshwater.” Bright was deeply troubled by the international headline-grabbing news of the 2014 Flint water crisis and by record-high water levels in 2020 which gobbled up beaches and destroyed roads and infrastructure.
“This was really unsettling to me, being from the freshwater state.”
Bright said he has trained hard and eaten well in anticipation of the swim later this month. Once it’s over he plans to kick back and enjoy himself.
“After the swim I’m going to Art’s to eat two orders of their famous Funky Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!”
Full disclosure: Sun editor Jacob Wheeler previously worked as FLOW’s communications coordinator.
