Great Lake Plunge
About this race
The Great Lake Plunge is Evanston's only open water swimming event. The swim consists of three events: 4K, 2K, 1K. This is a not-for-profit event which provides grants to support local water safety training and awareness This is a unique, family friendly event that will leave an impression for years to come. Visit our website for detailed information.
The racecourse is a 1K GPS buoyed rectangle. Swimmers will start at the southwest corner and be directed clockwise, first heading northwest, then turning northeast before returning southeast and finally southwest, back to the starting area. Buoys will be placed at the corners and halfway points.
The 1K swimmers swim 1 loop, 2K swimmers 2 loops, and 4K swimmers 4 loops.
Pick your distance
Swimming
4K Wetsuit
Cancellation Due to Conditions If weather or other issues prevent a safe swim as determined by the City of Evanston, we’ll cancel the race. We cannot offer refunds or deferrals, and there is no alternate date. The cost of the event is fixed, and all funds have been spent by race day.
4K Non-Wetsuit
Cancellation Due to Conditions If weather or other issues prevent a safe swim as determined by the City of Evanston, we’ll cancel the race. We cannot offer refunds or deferrals, and there is no alternate date. The cost of the event is fixed, and all funds have been spent by race day.
2K Wetsuit
Cancellation Due to Conditions If weather or other issues prevent a safe swim as determined by the City of Evanston, we’ll cancel the race. We cannot offer refunds or deferrals, and there is no alternate date. The cost of the event is fixed, and all funds have been spent by race day.
2K Non-Wetsuit
Cancellation Due to Conditions If weather or other issues prevent a safe swim as determined by the City of Evanston, we’ll cancel the race. We cannot offer refunds or deferrals, and there is no alternate date. The cost of the event is fixed, and all funds have been spent by race day.
1K Wetsuit
Cancellation Due to Conditions If weather or other issues prevent a safe swim as determined by the City of Evanston, we’ll cancel the race. We cannot offer refunds or deferrals, and there is no alternate date. The cost of the event is fixed, and all funds have been spent by race day.
1K Non-Wetsuit
Cancellation Due to Conditions If weather or other issues prevent a safe swim as determined by the City of Evanston, we’ll cancel the race. We cannot offer refunds or deferrals, and there is no alternate date. The cost of the event is fixed, and all funds have been spent by race day.
Typical race-day weather
Based on 6 years of Open-Meteo archive data for this event's race dates in Evanston, plus the 3 days either side.
The sun rises at 5:38 AM and sets at 8:16 PM local time (CDT) in Evanston on July 26, 2026 — 14h 37m of daylight.
Course
No course map published yet.
The organizer hasn't released a route for this event, and we don't publish guesses. If you're the organizer, send us a GPX file and we'll draw the profile.
Reviews
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2026 results — Great Lake Plunge
263 finishers across 6 distances · leading places in the 4K Wetsuit
| Place | Name | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Cruise | 1:22:24 | 33:09 /mi |
| 2 | John Martin | 1:22:48 | 33:19 /mi |
| 3 | Steven Weinstein | 1:26:34 | 34:50 /mi |
| 4 | Erin Stevenson | 1:27:22 | 35:09 /mi |
| 5 | Bill Potter | 1:29:38 | 36:04 /mi |
Every finisher is on the results page, filterable by distance, gender and age group.
All results by year
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Winnetka Turkey Trot 2025
Where this page comes from. Race details were last updated on . We re-check listings regularly and again in the week before race day.
- Entries, prices, waves and inclusions — the event's official registration page
- Temperature and humidity — Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
- Elevation and terrain relief — Copernicus DEM GLO-90, ESA (CC BY 4.0)
- Comparisons and counts — Race Discovery calendar, 8 Evanston events
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