Meet Jim 'The Shark' Dreyer. He plans to swim across Lake Michigan — again.

Twenty-five years after swimming across Lake Michigan, Jim "The Shark" Dreyer wants to do it again.

He's taking off Aug. 1, the same month he turns 60.

In what he's calling "Lake Michigan: the Silver Sequel," Dreyer plans to swim from Bradford Beach in Milwaukee to City Beach in his hometown of Grand Haven, Mich. — a distance of about 82.5 miles.

"I'm celebrating the swim that kind of launched this whole career," Dreyer said. "I thought 'It's 25 years later, I'm 25 years older, let's try to swim 25 miles further.' So I'm raising the bar and going to show that age is just a number."

In 1998, Dreyer swam from Two Rivers to Ludington, Mich., a 50-mile distance that ended up being 65 miles due to strong cross-currents, according to a press release.

His achievement came just two years after taking his first swim lesson and facing his life-long fear of the water which started after he almost drowned as a child.

"I didn't know what was happening to me, but I knew I couldn't breathe," he said, remembering the experience. "I saw the sandy bottom of the lake, but my feet wouldn't reach it."

Although he has not fully conquered his fear, he has worked to control it.

"I think a fear is kind of like putting your hand in wet concrete," he said. "When the concrete dries, it leaves an imprint, and the imprint never goes away."

'The Shark' has a long history of swimming achievements

Dreyer has crossed all five Great Lakes at least once: Lake Michigan in 1998; Lake Huron in 1999; Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in 2000; and Lake Superior in 2005, after several attempts.

In 2003, he completed a world distance record for a staged, self-sufficient swim covering about 422 miles in a running time of 29 days, eight hours and three minutes.

The month-long journey was completed in 18 consecutive stages along the eastern shoreline, from Michigan City, Ind. to Mackinac Bridge, carrying supplies in a kayak weighing about 100 pounds.

How he is preparing for this Lake Michigan swim

This time, Dreyer said he expects the swim to be about 90 miles in length with currents and to take over 60 hours.

"I keep a two-mile-an-hour pace, but about every hour you have to take nutrition," Dreyer said. "I can't leave the water.”

Dreyer said he plans to take liquid nutrition through straws while treading water throughout the course.

His biggest concerns are the water temperature and weather. Sleep deprivation will also become difficult, especially on the second night, he said.

"Lake Michigan can get really, really rough, and what's happening in one part of the lake can be completely different just a mile away," Dreyer said.

Throughout the course, Dreyer will be following a boat with a crew of military veterans, paramedics and firefighters. His paramedic and boat captain can make the call if it gets too dangerous for him and the crew, he said.

"They're very equipped professionally to handle this," Dreyer said. "They also have that mindset, the same mindset I have, that I need to have to do something like this."

Record-setting swim will raise money for Coast Guard association

The sequel swim is also a fundraiser for the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Association in Grand Haven — an affiliate organization that supports the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard.

"They're basically the guardians of Lake Michigan. And so I want to give back," Dreyer said.

Doug Locklear, the association's president, said they are a group of retired chiefs and E7s from every military branch that helps families in times of need.

"It's kind of nice to have someone, no strings attached, trying to do something nice to help people. I really applaud (Dreyer) for that," Locklear said.

Locklear said Dreyer parallels the association's mission in representing the danger of long-distance swimming in open and dangerous waters.

In his past six swims, Dreyer said he’s accumulated 173 miles of training, with his last practice being 42 miles on July 11. Over the next few weeks, Dreyer plans to rest before the big swim.

It's hard work, he said, but the sport takes his mind to another place.

“When you’re in a liquid environment, you've got a lot of time to think,” Dreyer said. “All you do is hear the sound of yourselves exhaling underwater, then breathing, taking a breath above water.”

Contact Skyler Chun at schun@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @skylerchun_.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jim Dreyer plans to swim across Lake Michigan from Milwaukee