Chicago's 'Great Lake Jumper' makes 365th leap into Lake Michigan
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The "Great Lake Jumper" has done it again.
For 365 days straight, Chicagoan Dan O'Conor has jumped into Lake Michigan.
Saturday's jump happened in front of a crowd of supporters at Montrose Harbor, who were cheering him on in the heat after a year of powering through each season.
"I started jumping in Lake Michigan on June 13 (2020), that was the first day, and the first day I came down here was because I was hungover. And it felt so good I just started doing it every day," he said in May when interviewed for an ABC7 Localish. "You know, with everything that was happening, you talk about June, it was the pandemic and the politics and the protests, just all of that, I could come down here and dive in the water and it would just kind of clear it, clear the palette and cleanse the day, start anew."
Even during the cold Chicago winter, O'Conor continued to plunge into the lake.
O'Conor's daily jumps have raised money for music venues hit hard during the pandemic.
"I'm a big fan of live music and just wanted to support the local venues so I partnered up with Civl Chicago, the Chicago independent venue league, and just all these small venues that really have been affected by COVID," he explained. "They were the first to close and they'll be the last to reopen. And so, I thought it was important to give back to the community that has given me so much joy over the years. So I teamed with them and people started donating right away."
