On an early Friday morning last month, Lily Zacharias and J.R. Kinney made the trek to Montrose Harbor to jump into Lake Michigan along with thousands of other people as part of Friday Morning Swim Club.

Zacharias wasn’t planning on making a TikTok, but when her fiance found himself treading water among a sea of colorful floats, Zacharias had to capture it. 

“I just want everybody to be safe, I don’t want this to turn into a horror story,” she said of making the July 14 video, which has raked in 1.1 million views and 120,000 likes. 

Kinney, who treaded water for 10 minutes before he was able to get out, said he wasn’t fearful for his safety. But his situation highlights the issues some swimmers say they run into at the gathering.

As more people join in for the plunge at 7:10 a.m. every Friday during the summer, Friday Morning Swim Club is breaking almost every rule the Chicago Park District has about swimming — and getting away with it.

“Swimming is allowed at designated areas, daily from 11 am to 7 pm, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, when lifeguards are present,” Michele Lemons, a spokesperson for the park district, said in a statement. 

The swim club takes place hours before swimming is allowed — and in an area that regularly attracts swimmers but is never patrolled by lifeguards, making it a non-permitted swimming area. Blow-up floats, which are prohibited by the park district, are a staple.

Friday Morning Swim Club co-founder Nicole Novotny says the city has never tried to contact the club.

Zacharias said she wonders if there’s a point when the city can get involved to increase safety. 

“When something gets this big, I feel like there has to be a turning point,” Zacharias said. 

As club grows, safety concerns bubble up

Friday Morning Swim Club’s growth started in 2021 from word of mouth as a way for friends to catch up before the start of the weekend, Novotny said. By the end of that summer, it had grown from eight friends to around 700, to the surprise of Novotny and her co-organizer Andrew Glatt.

Social media, like Zacharias’ video, has fueled the club’s growth. The mayor shouted out the club in a now-deleted post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Choose Chicago, the city’s official tourism agency, added to the hype around the swim club, posting videos about it on TikTok and Instagram, both of which have been recently deleted. While it has actively promoted the event, even encouraging people to bring floaties, Choose Chicago wouldn’t answer questions specifically about Friday Morning Swim Club. In a statement, the agency said, “We encourage all Chicagoans and visitors to enjoy our lakefront safely.”

Floats have become an essential part of the club. In its first season in 2021, the smaller group didn’t use floaties but now Novotny says around 80% of swimmers do. The floats have been long banned by the park district, something Novotny said she wasn’t aware of until a couple weeks ago. 

Tom Gill, spokesperson for the United States Lifesaving Association, said those with floats aren’t necessarily safe. 

“Nobody should depend on a non-approved floatation device to maintain integrity in the water … there are so many variables that can go wrong in that situation,” Gill said. 

Zacharias said she feels that every swimmer, no matter their skill level, should bring a float — a message she made clear in her TikTok. 

Novotny said the organizers’ “main priority” is safety and “making sure people that get in the water, get out of the water.” 

As the exits get backed up with people, participants who aren’t in the water will start pulling swimmers who seem to be struggling up the side of the wall. 

Organizers encourage people to let swimmers without floatation devices through to the ladders first, but that can be difficult when the crowds get so large. 

Mary Grace Poeckes, a 22-year-old who heard about the club through TikTok, has gone to the event three times. She said although there’s no one “actively” looking out for swimmers, she felt like everyone was keeping an eye on each other. 

During one wavy and rainy morning, she was getting pushed toward the wall without a float and other swimmers moved her near the ladder. 

Still, the number of people in the water doesn’t make it any safer, Gill said. 

“Drowning is a silent killer,” Gill said. “If you put that many people in there it actually becomes more difficult because unless you have someone specifically watching you ​​in this group it’s kind of like the wave pools at the water park.”

The area has seen several apparent drownings in recent years.

In 2022, Francisco Gonzalez, 38, of West Rogers Park was pulled from the harbor and pronounced dead. In 2016, 26-year-old Carlos Juan Penaco drowned near Montrose Harbor.

Twenty-three people have drowned in Lake Michigan this year, according to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project.

“We’re always on guard or prepared to take a turn if we need,” Novotny said. 

Novotny said they have worked with a legal team to advise them on their role in organizing the event. 

And no one has to get into the water if they don’t want to, Novotny said.

“We are very clear that we’re showing up; we’re going to be here with coffee and to hang,” Novotny said. 

Lifeguards at a loss

Adolfo Flores, a Chicago Park District lifeguard and member of the lifeguard union’s bargaining committee, said guards have also brought up concerns about the amount of people and the use of flotation devices to the park district, with no response. 

Park district lifeguards would be excited to help out with the swim club — but a lifeguard shortage and low wages mean they’re are already at their limits, he said.

“We’re exhausted, with the time and with the area I’m not sure it’s possible to get lifeguards there,” Flores said. 

Flores said he thinks participants should be asking organizers and the park district to add safety measures to the event. 

The park district said it has “implemented an aggressive recruitment campaign to ensure all designated swimming areas are properly staffed with trained, certified lifeguards throughout the beach season,” but wouldn’t respond to questions specifically about Friday Morning Swim Club. 

Flores said the park district has worked with guards to staff permitted events happening in the lake outside of regular hours, like the triathlon, but the club doesn’t have a permit. 

Novotny said they’ve looked into getting a permit but the space they meet isn’t listed as an area that events can be permitted in. 

‘No one’s saying anything to us’

Cold water, crowded ladders, bumper-to-bumper traffic — thousands of people are still showing up to Friday Morning Swim Club.

Despite the swimmers descending upon the neighborhood, Christine Somervill, a longtime Buena Park resident, said she isn’t bothered by the crowds.

“I know some people probably thought it was annoying, not me, have at it, live a joyful life,” Somervill said.

“I’ve even thought about throwing my suit on and coming out.”

She said there could be more safety measures.

“I think it would be good to have a safety officer around but if the park district is involved like they are with the beach, they’re going to tell people you can’t be in the water with the toys.”

Novotny said the club doesn’t plan to shut down anytime soon.

“The amount of support and happiness and joy that people get out of this simple thing of going to the lake and just being there and being present for an hour, it’s honestly pretty powerful,” Novotny said. 

Whether they’re getting away with breaking the rules, or those rules just aren’t enforced, Novotny doesn’t know. 

“It’s this weird balance,” Novotny said. “We’ve been doing it now for three seasons and, it’s still happening. It’s kind of weird, but also no one’s saying anything to us. So, we feel like it’s fine.”