{"id":99701,"date":"2022-03-11T19:43:37","date_gmt":"2022-03-12T01:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=99701"},"modified":"2022-03-11T19:45:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-12T01:45:13","slug":"march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"March madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sarah Berman
\n<\/strong>Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

At 7 a.m on a Sunday in January, Steve Hernan and two other \u201cice monsters\u201d are getting ready to descend into 33-degree Lake Michigan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The holdup: They\u2019re still using an ax to free ice from a neon green ladder. Hernan, 54, is kneeling in the snow, leaning over the water as he chisels away at the bottom rung. Breathless and sweating, he turns to the two men and asks to be subbed out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Steve Hernan uses an axe to chop the ice and free the ladder. (Sarah Berman\/MEDILL)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It takes 25 minutes to de-ice their launching pad, the only ladder on the shoreline that isn\u2019t buried in snow and ice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI declare the pool is open,\u201d Hernan says. Then he puts on a water-repelling, neoprene wetsuit, gloves, boots, dive hood and swim cap.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the past 15 years, open-water swimming has been a Sunday ritual for Hernan and his fellow \u201clake monsters,\u201d the term for people who swim with Open Water Chicago<\/a>. Those who brave the frigid feat and swim in the winter are nicknamed \u201cice monsters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lake Michigan continuously cools throughout winter, and with March averaging an annual low of 32.9 degrees, it\u2019s the chilliest month for open-water swimming. Yet a growing number of people are taking the plunge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a child, Hernan was a wrestler, not a swimmer. His only memory of a couple of swim lessons happened while he was growing up in Lincoln, Ill. \u201cI basically learned how to not drown and just flail around,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2007, when he was 36, Hernan signed up for the Chicago Triathlon on a whim. Most triathletes\u2019 least favorite part of the race is the swimming, but after two triathlons, Hernan realized he liked it the most and ditched the bicycle and sneakers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the annual Chicago Triathlon in August, most people stop open-water swimming for the season. With no one to train with in September and October, Hernan put a note on Craigslist in 2007 looking for someone interested in out-of-season open-water swimming. To his surprise, he created a group of a few people, which generated an endless email chain. Hernan soon discovered WordPress as a solution for his cluttered inbox and created the site Open Water Chicago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, it evolved from a place to coordinate training times to a space for posting articles about open-water swimming, pictures of the group each weekend, Lake Michigan\u2019s daily temperature \u2013 and even announcing his son\u2019s birth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was never any strategy,\u201d Hernan said. Through the years, the group has accumulated 520 \u201clake monsters.\u201d When someone completes an inaugural workout with the group, the person is assigned a \u201clake monster number,\u201d which Hernan, a businessman at heart, logs in an Excel spreadsheet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hernan never planned to venture into cold-water swimming. In 2009, the \u201clake monsters\u201d kept daring one another to swim another month past October, when the group would typically hibernate. \u201cNext thing you know, we\u2019re swimming in Lake Michigan at Thanksgiving, and it\u2019s freaking cold,\u201d Hernan said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After November 2009, the daredevils decided to invest in cold-water swimming gear.\u00a0 \u201cThere was nothing planful about this,\u201d Hernan said. \u201cIt was an ego dare thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Only 26 people have earned the \u201cice monster\u201d title. On that Sunday in January, Ray Fearing is looking to be “Ice Monster No. 27.” Fearing, a regular during the warmer months, is marking his winter debut.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He and Hernan opt for a wetsuit, designed to keep people warm without anything underneath. Steve Papendick wears a drysuit, which looks like a waterproof hazmat suit. He also puts on flippers, but no goggles or hood because he keeps his head above water and plans on sticking close to the ladder. \u201cI\u2019ve had actual brain freeze too many times,\u201d Papendick says. \u201cI\u2019m too old for that now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hernan opens his thermos, but doesn\u2019t take a sip, instead offering the steaming liquid to the group. \u201cWould you like any hot water in your gloves?\u201d he asks. Similar to how skiers use air-activated hand and foot warmers in their mittens and boots, Hernan puts hot water in his dry-sealed boots and gloves to keep his extremities toasty. Air-activated hand and foot warmers won\u2019t work once submerged in water. Pouring warm water into the water-sealed, neoprene boots and gloves keeps the warm water against the skin as a way to combat the cold.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys are crazy,\u201d says a female jogger who\u2019s trotting down the lakefront trail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To avoid shocking the system, Hernan\u2019s pre-swim routine includes a warm shower. He dials the temperature down to cold for as long as he can manage, which helps him acclimate to the freezing lake. \u201cIt\u2019s like boxing,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the time you get to the ring, you want to be breaking a sweat. Except here, it\u2019s the opposite.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The ice monsters enter Lake Michigan. (Sarah Berman\/MEDILL)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One by one, the trio climbs down the ladder. \u201cWow. We got so lucky with the conditions today,\u201d Hernan says as he begins treading water.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hernan already knows his route. He\u2019s sticking near the shore and following the bend south toward Oak Street Beach and 875 N. Michigan Ave., known to most as the John Hancock Center, which is a half-mile round-trip. As an experienced open-water swimmer, and someone who exercises regularly, he takes off alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, Papendick kicks back and forth by the ladder, and Fearing ventures off a bit toward the Ferris wheel, but soon turns around to chill with Papendick. The pair wade in the water discussing golf, an upcoming vacation and the water temperature that\u2019s \u201cnot so bad.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDid you order an ice pizza?\u201d Papendick jokingly asks Fearing as he picks up a pizza-sized slab of ice from Lake Michigan. You can tell he\u2019s a New Yorker because the \u201ccrust\u201d is quite thin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After 25 minutes, Hernan arrives back at ladder 1A. \u201cAll is right with the world right now,\u201d Hernan says to the ice monsters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Seconds after exiting the water, Steve Hernan’s gloves are already iced over. (Sarah Berman\/MEDILL)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He climbs the ladder. \u201cThis is the part that sucks,\u201d he says. Ice forms on his gloves, and his face is redder than someone finishing a marathon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the afterdrop, Hernan\u2019s heart rate slows down and his body temperature plummets 10 minutes after exiting the water.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately, Hernan throws on a towel-like Snuggie and changes into the clothes he wore pre-swim. As he peels off his neoprene layers, he places each wet item on a dry towel, to avoid an item immediately freezing to the ground and ripping.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a shiver today,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hernan recalled his first experience swimming in cold-water as \u201canticlimactic.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Open-water swimming in January is easier than November and December because his body is more acclimated to the cold. \u201cWe might as well do whatever we can and stop resisting winter,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor a lot of us, it\u2019s about finding like-minded people, having a community, forgetting about work and other BS.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the group is dressed and dry, Hernan unzips his backpack and removes an oval sticker, which looks like the \u201c26.2\u201d bumper decal that most marathoners own. But this one reads \u201c32.1,\u201d the minimum water temperature for the ice monsters. Hernan hands the token to Fearing and officially deems him \u201cIce Monster 27.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fearing calls the swim \u201cmore enjoyable\u201d than he anticipated. \u201cIf people don\u2019t say you\u2019re crazy, then you\u2019re not living life to its full potential,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The trio chats onshore for another 10 minutes about the latest news headlines and what their Sunday plans entail.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conversation begins to slow down. \u201cWell, it\u2019s time to get back to my responsibilities,\u201d Hernan says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sarah Berman is a graduate journalism student in the magazine specialization at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at @sarahberm\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sarah Berman Medill Reports At 7 a.m on a Sunday in January, Steve Hernan and two other \u201cice monsters\u201d are getting ready to descend into 33-degree Lake Michigan.\u00a0 The holdup: They\u2019re still using an ax to free ice from a neon green ladder. Hernan, 54, is kneeling in the snow, leaning over the water […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":844,"featured_media":99719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5251,31,5155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chicago","category-sports","category-winter-2022"],"yoast_head":"\nMarch madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"March madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sarah Berman Medill Reports At 7 a.m on a Sunday in January, Steve Hernan and two other \u201cice monsters\u201d are getting ready to descend into 33-degree Lake Michigan.\u00a0 The holdup: They\u2019re still using an ax to free ice from a neon green ladder. Hernan, 54, is kneeling in the snow, leaning over the water […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-12T01:43:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-12T01:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_5746-2.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sarahberman2022\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sarahberman2022\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/\",\"name\":\"March madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_5746-2.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-12T01:43:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-12T01:45:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/6db6dde1443628b896eb288ea8bdccd0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_5746-2.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_5746-2.jpeg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1350,\"caption\":\"Steve Hernan begins his open-water swim from ladder 1A, just south of Oak Street Beach. (Sarah Berman\/MEDILL)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"March madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/6db6dde1443628b896eb288ea8bdccd0\",\"name\":\"sarahberman2022\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b245ee8a66c417d25cae485170c0b1cc11b1b006e1992577bee1eaecb355a8c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b245ee8a66c417d25cae485170c0b1cc11b1b006e1992577bee1eaecb355a8c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"sarahberman2022\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/sarahberman2022\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"March madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"March madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Sarah Berman Medill Reports At 7 a.m on a Sunday in January, Steve Hernan and two other \u201cice monsters\u201d are getting ready to descend into 33-degree Lake Michigan.\u00a0 The holdup: They\u2019re still using an ax to free ice from a neon green ladder. Hernan, 54, is kneeling in the snow, leaning over the water […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2022-03-12T01:43:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-12T01:45:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1800,"height":1350,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_5746-2.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"sarahberman2022","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"sarahberman2022","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/","name":"March madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_5746-2.jpeg","datePublished":"2022-03-12T01:43:37+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-12T01:45:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/6db6dde1443628b896eb288ea8bdccd0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_5746-2.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/03\/IMG_5746-2.jpeg","width":1800,"height":1350,"caption":"Steve Hernan begins his open-water swim from ladder 1A, just south of Oak Street Beach. (Sarah Berman\/MEDILL)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/march-madness-meet-the-growing-number-of-ice-monsters-who-swim-in-lake-michigan-during-its-coldest-month-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"March madness: Meet the growing number of \u2018ice monsters\u2019 who swim in Lake Michigan during its coldest month of the year"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/6db6dde1443628b896eb288ea8bdccd0","name":"sarahberman2022","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b245ee8a66c417d25cae485170c0b1cc11b1b006e1992577bee1eaecb355a8c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b245ee8a66c417d25cae485170c0b1cc11b1b006e1992577bee1eaecb355a8c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"sarahberman2022"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/sarahberman2022\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/844"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99701"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99734,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99701\/revisions\/99734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}