411-mile swim will ‘finish tragic journey’ of Edmund Fitzgerald

Madalyn Buursma
·4 min read
2

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A relay swim scheduled for next year will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and honor the 29 crew members who lost their lives.

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a storm on Nov. 10, 1975 in Lake Superior, 17 miles off shore of Whitefish Point in Michigan. It was bound for Detroit, bringing with it 26,000 tons of iron ore.

The wreck was immortalized in the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” from singer Gordon Lightfoot, who died last year at age 84.

As the 50th anniversary of the shipwreck approaches, Jim Dreyer — known for his swims across the Great Lakes — is planning a 411-mile relay swim, starting at the site of the shipwreck and ending at the ship’s intended destination.

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FILE- A 1959 file photo shows the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, which disappeared Nov. 10, 1975, in a storm on Lake Superior. The Great Lakes have claimed some 6,000 ships since European explorers began navigating the waters in the 1600s, but few have captured the public’s imagination as has the Edmund Fitzgerald. (AP Photo, File)
FILE- A 1959 file photo shows the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, which disappeared Nov. 10, 1975, in a storm on Lake Superior. The Great Lakes have claimed some 6,000 ships since European explorers began navigating the waters in the 1600s, but few have captured the public’s imagination as has the Edmund Fitzgerald. (AP Photo, File)

“In a sense, symbolically, we’re finishing the tragic journey that the Edmund Fitzgerald was unable to complete on November 10, 1975,” Dreyer told News 8.

The plan is to start with a ceremony on July 26, 2025 at the site of the shipwreck, though Dreyer is still working to secure the necessary permits. Family of the crew members will be invited to join the ceremony, to lay flowers in the water and maybe share some words.

It will be a rare occasion, Dreyer explained.

“It’s sacred waters,” he said. “Boats are not even allowed to legally pass over it. And sadly, I’ve learned that family members are not even allowed to go out and visit.”

In a Nov. 24, 1975 file photo Coast Guard officers on a Board of Inquiry inspected life rings that were recovered from the ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in stormy weather in Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975. All 29 crewmen aboard perished and did not get a chance to use any of the lifesaving equipment. The Great Lakes have claimed some 6,000 ships since European explorers began navigating the waters in the 1600s, but few have captured the public's imagination as has the Edmund Fitzgerald. (AP Photo/GE, File)

Following the ceremony, four swimmers will relay swim the 17 miles from the shipwreck site to Whitefish Point, where Captain Ernest McSorley was trying to bring the ship to for safety that night.

That swim will be the first of 17 stages, with four swimmers taking part in each stage. Swimmers will take 30 minute shifts, followed by an hour and a half rest in a boat. Each stage is followed by a day off, to give the schedule flexibility in case of weather delays or cancelations.

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“The swim sounds very intimidating, 411 miles,” Dreyer said. “But when you break it down, it becomes a very doable thing. We want to make this available to swimmers of all different levels.”

The relay swim is scheduled to be completed by the end of August, followed by a 4.7-mile march to the Mariners’ Church of Detroit, where the church bell will once again ring 29 times.

“That’s going to be a very, very moving thing,” Dreyer said. “I wish Gordon Lightfoot was still alive to witness it.”

FILE - The largest and longest vessel ever built on the Great Lakes, the 729-foot ore carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald, slides into the launching basin, on June 7, 1958, in Detroit, Michigan. The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Nov. 10, 1975, in Lake Superior during a storm. (AP Photo, File)
FILE – The largest and longest vessel ever built on the Great Lakes, the 729-foot ore carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald, slides into the launching basin, on June 7, 1958, in Detroit, Michigan. The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank on Nov. 10, 1975, in Lake Superior during a storm. (AP Photo, File)

The crew will also bring iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin, which was the last stop of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and will present it to the mayor of Detroit.

Registration to swim is still open, though Dreyer said there’s only 17 spots left of the 68. He said participants will get a plaque with embedded iron ore pellets.

“What I’m hearing from the swimmers and what’s really turned them on to this event is the fact that it’s a once in a lifetime event,” he said. “Nothing like this has ever happened before and it may never happen again. These swimmers are truly going to make history — while they’re commemorating history.”

How Gordon Lightfoot honored the Edmund Fitzgerald

The memorial swim will raise funds for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society to help preserve the Whitefish Point Light Station, which was dark the night the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. The GLSHS will also have a film crew along during the memorial swim to turn it into a documentary.

“I want to make sure that this is the best experience possible for these swimmers, and it leaves a lasting impact. … Helping to carry on the legacy of the 29 lost mariners,” he said. “It’s had tremendous momentum. It’s going to be an epic event and it’s going to be the subject of a film as well. So it’ll outlive all of us and it will carry on for all of posterity.”

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