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Illinois woman swims across iconic Michigan lake twice

Illinois woman swims across iconic Michigan lake twice
August 23, 2021 The Associated Press

ALDEN, Mich. (AP) — A medical student from Illinois has swum across one of Michigan’s largest inland lakes — twice — to raise money and awareness about diabetes.

Marian Cardwell accomplished the 35-mile feat at Torch Lake in Antrim County after dropping a plan to swim across Lake Michigan from Chicago to Grand Haven, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported.

Cardwell, 31, started on Aug. 4 and finished the next day. She had hoped to keep swimming but stopped after two crossings and 18 hours.

“I got colder a lot sooner than I was expecting,” said Cardwell, who’s from suburban Chicago. “I have some of my own personal health issues that became more compromising than I thought they would be. And also the navigation became pretty challenging at night.”

Cardwell is trying to promote the Chicago Diabetes Project, which seeks to make islet cell transplants a treatment option for Type 1 diabetes. She is a medical school student at Central Michigan University.

“I think it’s a kind of a hidden disease,” Cardwell said. “These people have to manage it all the time. They never get a break. They never get a day off.”


Catch more news on Great Lakes Now:

Chicago man jumps into Lake Michigan for 365th straight day

Michigan making exceptions to weather-related swim ban

“Dream Big”: Diving the five lakes in 24 hours, from the perspective of one of the divers


Featured image: Google map image of Torch Lake, Mich.

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