Jace Morgan practices for his upcoming swim on Lake Wawasee. He we soon announce his target date for his ‘Lap the Lake’ on his website, jacemorgan.com. Photo provided by Jace Morgan.

By Nathan Pace
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — People have swam across Lake Wawasee before but Jace Morgan is aiming to be the first person to swim the circumference of the shoreline in what he calls “Lap the Lake.”

“Me and my wife were we were at home and we were watching YouTube videos and we saw this guy who was swimming around Iceland doing this like ultra long swim. I was like, ‘Oh, what if I swim around Wawasee,’” Morgan said.

To do this, Morgan would have to traverse 14 miles around the shore in one outing. He will be swimming on the inside of the buoy line and skipping the channels. The plan is to watch weather reports before selecting the date for the swim but Sunday, Sept. 14, through Sunday, Sept. 21, are what he calls the optimal dates due to expected water temperatures and reduced boat traffic. The summer months feature too many boats on the water and October will likely be too cold. In the week after Labor Day weekend, Morgan says the water tempter dropped three degrees from 71 to 68.

“I was swimming without a wetsuit and doing all my training,” Morgan said. “The next Monday I swam when I got out of the water, I was shivering. I could not control my body. I was so cold. And then we made the choice that I need to wear a wetsuit. Yeah, wetsuit’s going to be the way to go. I already struggle to maintain my body heat anyways, but this is going to be a whole different level.”

Jace and Rikki Morgan pose for a photo by Syracuse Lake and are passionate about protecting the lakes for future generations. Photo by Nathan Pace.

At 31, Morgan has competed in extreme events before. He grew up water skiing on Lake Wawasee but fell in love with alpine skiing on a trip to Michigan. Morgan attended Montana State University to pursue professional skiing. After a couple of years in Montana he returned home. Morgan moved into entrepreneurship with one business venture taking him down the Florida Keys. He and his wife, Rikki, restored a boat and sold bracelets while traveling down the Mississippi River and out into the gulf.

Jace and Rikki Morgan stand by their dog, Sailor, for a photo. Photo by Nathan Pace.

Morgan has participated and won triathlons. His successes have provided him endorsement deals and allowed him time for training. To prepare for his Wawasee swim, Morgan recently swam eight straight hours in a YMCA pool.

“That’s the longest swim that I’ve ever done. But that’s pool swimming. So pool swimming and open water swimming are definitely different,” Morgan said.

The plan is for an escort boat to help guide Morgan through the journey on Lake Wawasee. Supporting kayakers will also cheer Morgan on and help direct passing boats away from the swimmer.

Rikki can throw him provisions from the boat but Morgan is committed to not stopping his swim during the day. Morgan says his wife will act as a ‘crew chief’ to make sure he is hydrated, fed and supplied with any needed supplements.

“She’s in charge of everything and she’ll have a bottle probably tied to a rope and she’ll throw it out to me and I’ll drink or eat whatever it is that she has for me. We’ll have different supplements and nutrition mixes for them. Hopefully my stomach doesn’t become a problem,” Morgan said. “That’s kind of a worst-case scenario.”

Finding the right day for the swim will be critical as too much wind will make his lap difficult.

“The wind just makes the waves really bad and when the waves get bad, then I get tossed around while I swim and it makes an already difficult swim extremely hard,” Morgan said. “The problem is I’m swimming so close to shore that the waves bounce off the seawall and come back out. When they come back off the seawall, there’s like a current on the top. The waves are hitting me at the top. But on the bottom, the current is like pulling me out to the lake to deeper water. And it creates this like washing machine effect where I get like tossed around really bad.”

One of the goals of his swim is to bring awareness to protecting the lake for the future. He and Rikki have a daughter, Bri, and he wants to pass along his lake experiences to his daughter.

Jace Morgan stands on the dock ready to swim a practice session on Lake Wawasee. His preparations and the full swim itself has been recorded for a potential documentary. Photo provided by Jace Morgan.

“I think that there’s a lot of great stuff happening, but I definitely am worried that the next generation of conservation is maybe not as big as the one before. And I would love to be a part of the conservation and to continue educating and protecting the waters,” Morgan said. “A big inspiration for me comes from having my daughter, obviously. This will be her house someday, and I want her to grow up and have this house in a clean lake and a fun place to go out and enjoy.”

Weather he succeeds in his swimming of the lap or not, Morgan feels he has inspired people like his daughter, in just attempting the mission.

“I want her to see that just because you’re scared of something or it’s really hard doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t dream big and you shouldn’t chase these dreams. You know, I was just a normal kid. I went to Wawasee. I grew up right here. I didn’t have anything special. I don’t have any special talents, but I just worked really hard and show up every day and I can achieve these big dreams. She’s watched me win big races and become a professional athlete.”

One aspect of the swim that will give him the most trouble is something you probably would not expect.

“I’m terrified of seaweed. And the whole swim is pretty much through seaweed. There’s seaweed everywhere. And so it’s a real mental battle even doing the swim. I mean, I’m scared that I won’t be able to do it. I’m scared of the seaweed. I’m scared that I will let people down. I’m very fearful of what’s to come, but I’m excited to push through it and to show people that even though it’s really hard and there’s going to be lots of times where I want to quit, but if you keep moving forward, just one more buoy, one at a time, eventually you’ll get around and you’ll come full circle. Hopefully I can do it.”