Logan man swims length of Bear Lake, prepares to cross English Channel

GARDEN CITY, Rich County — Brayden Jarrett reached a major milestone as an open water swimmer Saturday — spanning the length of Bear Lake, 19.5 miles, in just over 11 hours.

"It felt amazing," Jarrett said. "Just that feeling of, you know, you did something. You did something hard."

Jarrett's journey started early Saturday morning. He was followed on a jet ski by his father and Gordon Gridley, a Davis County swimmer who serves as an official for the Marathon Swimming Federation, which is expected to ultimately ratify his accomplishment in the coming weeks. During the first several hours, he said his training supported him well.

"I got in the water, and I just started swimming, and it was really boring, let me tell you. Really, really boring," Jarrett laughed. That ultimately changed, however. "5.5 hours in, there was a thunderstorm coming in. The waters were really rough, and I just had to push through it"

Jarrett said his shoulders became sore, but he persisted. Gridley and his father provided moral support, food and water.

"Sometimes you hit a wall, you don't want to go anymore, but you know, they're there right next to you cheering you on," he said.

And in that lies, in large part, why Jarrett loves swimming on the open water so much.

"That's just mainly what it taught me, is that I'm in control of my circumstances," he said. "Like, if I want to do this, then I can do it. There's nothing stopping me."

Jarrett's love for swimming started at a very young age, but his ambitions for open water came more recently as he set his sights on the English Channel, which is about 21 miles across at the narrowest portion.

"It's been four years that I've had that goal in my mind, but I haven't really thought too much about it until this past year," Jarrett explained.

He said that in that goal, there are greater challenges ahead, and more reasons to train.

"In the ocean, the currents are going to be probably a lot more stronger," Jarrett said. "The English Channel, that's a big shipping lane. There's going to be big vessels. There's going to be a big boat next to me guiding me, and there's going to be saltwater, and it's going to be cold."

Jarrett regularly trains at the pool inside the HPER building at Utah State University, and in Hyrum Reservoir. Ahead of taking on the channel, however, he'll need to swim for six hours around Alcatraz this November, for a continuous swim in water that is 61 degrees or colder.

In the Meantime, his journey between England and France is set for June 2027, as those swims are in high enough demand that they need to be set up three years in advance. Still, Jarrett is confident that he will be ready, as long as he keeps setting goals and reaching them along the way. That's also a part of the process that he loves.

"It just helps me feel purpose," Jarrett said. "Because when you do something hard like that mental aspect, what it gives you is just no other feeling. I don't know how to describe it."

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