Friday Morning Swim Club: Chicago’s sunrise swimmers and their Friday wave ritual

What started as a friendly meet-up at Chicago’s Lake Michigan waterfront has become a global phenomenon. Friday Morning Swim Club is going on its third year and has grown from less than ten people to thousands.

Co-founders, Andrew and Nicole, started this journey back in 2019. Andrew was training for an upcoming triathlon and would meet his friend at the lake to bike and swim. They ended up making this meet-up part of their routine.

After a year of isolation from the pandemic, Nicole planned to meet her friends at Belmont Harbor to catch-up over a night swim. Like Andrew, Nicole and her friends enjoyed it so much that it became a weekly hangout.

Nicole invited Andrew and some other close friends to join a week later. Nicole’s Thursday Night Swim Club eventually transformed into Friday Morning Swim Club and many are grateful that Andrew and Nicole joined forces to make this happen. 

This group of thousands meets every Friday morning at Montrose Harbor around 6:45 a.m., enjoying an excellent start to their day while taking in the cityscape. They go through announcements and head into the water right after.

What’s a morning without coffee, though? The swim club brings over twenty gallons of cold brew from Printer’s Row Coffee Co. and hosts a weekly mug contest. Pictures of the mugs go up on their Instagram, where followers vote for the weekly champion.

The swim club tradition has grown beyond Chicago. People from all over the globe, such as Sweden, India, and even the Philippines, have traveled to the city to participate in this ritual.

Friday Morning Swim Club’s last swim of the season is on September 29. Weekly swims will continue to happen every Friday until then, and everyone is welcome.