"I swing hard. When I connect, it's big.
When I miss, it's big ... and I swing again.
Go BIG or go home!" ~ Jim Dreyer
Track The Shark On His Journey
* Link will be live on game day.
Apply for an Honorary Cannonball
In 2026, to commemorate America’s 250th birthday, Jim "The Shark" Dreyer will tow 250 cannonballs (weighing 1,500 pounds) while swimming 22 miles from offshore in Lake Michigan to the coastal town of Whitehall, Michigan.
The cannonballs will be used to build a memorial sculpture in Whitehall that forever honors the valorous Combat Veterans who fought to win and preserve the freedom of this great nation over the past quarter millennium.
Twenty-two miles was chosen for the distance, as 22 is the number most associated with the estimated number of Veterans who die by suicide daily due to post-traumatic stress.
The swim is planned to start on August 7th, with Dreyer arriving at Whitehall’s Goodrich Park during the White Lake Area Maritime Festival. The actual date of the swim and arrival in Whitehall will be dependent on weather and lake conditions. The Shark may be tracked in near-real-time from this site.
The 250 cannonballs delivered in
Dreyer’s arduous swim are
reminiscent of the American
Revolution in 1776 and will be used to build the U.S. 250th Combat Veterans Memorial.
Details of the sculpture's unique design will be released here soon!
Cannonballs represent the weight of war experienced by our troops in combat and also symbolize the weight many Veterans continue to endure after returning to civilian life.
Dreyer will pull 249 of the cannonballs in two dinghies and will carry one cannonball on his back for his late father, a World War II Combat Veteran who served in the European theater.
Cannonballs mounted with an engraved plaque on this one-of-a-kind U.S. 250th memorial may be purchased to forever honor loved ones who sacrificed to serve our country in combat.
Commemorators will receive a photo file of their cannonball and plaque after they are mounted on the memorial. The plaque will be numbered so it can easily be located when visiting the memorial.
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KIAs, MIAs, WIAs, and POWs will be noted on plaques.
Commemorators may also submit a photo and write a tribute for their honorees to be viewed by memorial visitors when scanning a QR code.
Appling for an honorary cannonball is free, and after your application is approved, we will send you a secure online link for making a $750 tax-deductible donation to have your honorary cannonball and plaque mounted on the memorial. Donations may also be mailed to save on processing fees. Electronic receipts will be provided.
Donations will go to a Whitehall Area Veterans organization (TBD) for construction of the memorial, and any fundraising surplus will be distributed between all participating White Lake Area Veterans organizations.
Apply for an Honorary Cannonball
Thank You to "Team 250"
Our All-American Partners!
