Lake Catholic swimmer Evan Ream wins 10K open water race in Michigan – News-Herald
You can’t say that Evan Ream is afraid to spend time in the water.
Not only in the pool, where he is entering his junior year as a promising distance freestyle swimmer and IMer for Lake Catholic. But also in open water.
Ream recently won first prize at the annual Swim to the Moon Open Water Swim Festival.
The event took place last weekend outside of Hell, Michigan—yes, a real city about an hour west of Detroit. This area is home to the Hiland Chain of Lakes, where the open water festival has been held for the past 15 years.
Participants can choose from seven distances: 0.5, 1, 1.2 and 2.4 miles as well as 5 km, 10 km and 15 km.
Ream competed in the 10K and made the trip to Southeast Michigan especially worthwhile with his division title.
“Yeah, it was pretty fun,” Ream said. “It was my first 10K. I’ve done a few 5Ks and 6Ks before. But this was my first 10K. So it was pretty fun.”
“I really had no idea how fast I was going or how I was going to pace myself because I’ve never done anything like that before. But yeah, I just went in and swam my race. It was fun. I was very excited when I found out I won by a big margin.”
Ream was the overall winner of the men’s 10K with a start time of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 24.7 seconds and a pace of 21:46, winning by nearly nine minutes over a field of 162 competitors from Michigan and the Great Lakes region.
“I swim long courses in the summer, which I think helps me train for open water,” Ream explained. “But last year I did a few triathlons where I discovered that I like open water swimming.”
“You just want to swim a long distance to train for it, to prepare for the distance you’re going to swim.”
In the winter, Ream qualified for Division II last year as a sophomore and was selected to the News-Herald’s third team in 2024 by placing 11th in the Cougars’ 200-yard medley relay and 21st in the 500-yard freestyle prelims in Canton. At the D-II Cleveland State District, he finished fourth in that 200-yard medley relay, as well as fourth in the 500-yard freestyle, sixth in the 400-yard freestyle relay and eighth in the 200-yard medley.
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Through this open water work, Ream can feel a difference in his endurance when it’s time to move into distance freestyle and IM mode, whether it’s during club season or in the winter for the Cougars.
“This will definitely help me in the 500-meter race during the high school season,” Ream said. “I’ll have the endurance I need for that.”
“I’m definitely looking forward to (the high school season). I have pretty high expectations.”
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