'The Great Lake Jumper' dove into icy Lake Michigan every day for a year to clear his mind from the stress of the pandemic

• A Chicago man jumped into Lake Michigan every day for a year.
• In the winter, Dan O'Conor took a shovel to carve out a hole in the ice for him to jump in.
• O'Conor told Insider the plunges helped him relieve stress throughout the pandemic.

A Chicago man dove into Lake Michigan every day for a whole year in a habit that started as a way to deal with the stress of the pandemic.

"The Great Lake Jumper," Dan O'Conor, told Insider the daily dive started last summer when his wife told him to go out because he was hungover. O'Conor rode his bike to the lake and decided to jump in.

"It felt like a breath of fresh air just arriving at the lake and then to be able to jump into a Great Lake with a beautiful skyline, it just felt real peaceful. Almost like I was able to go down there and get a few moments to zen when there was all this chaos happening in America with the pandemic, with the protests happening June with, politics ramping up for an election," O'Conor said. "It felt like somewhere where I could go and wipe the day clean and start a new."

He kept plunging into the lake every day since. After a few months, his friends began asking him if he was still taking the leap, and not long after they tipped off local bloggers and news reporters.

As the winter rolled around, O'Conor said he felt rebellious against people who told him he couldn't keep jumping through Chicago's cold winter.

"I think it's part of my personality that when people tell you, you can't do things and it's like, why not me?" O'Conor said. "Like, why can't I? And I've been called crazy, alone, and a psycho for most of my life. It's like, who are you to say that I can't. It's almost a challenge."

So as the winter approached, instead of riding his bike to the lake, which is three miles from his house, O'Conor drove. He also started bringing along a shovel.

"I was walking a quarter to half a mile depending on where I was parking and where I was going to jump in. I'm bringing a shovel because there could be ice in the water and I'd have to chip out a big enough space for me to jump into or lower myself into the water, he said.

O'Conor said he tried to make the trip as safe as possible, always bringing along another person to make sure he was safe.

Eventually, others began joining O'Conor, either to take the plunge themselves, to watch, or to even perform.

"I had a friend who hit a rough patch and, he came down probably around Thanksgiving. He probably came down five times with me to jump in. I think the healingness of jumping into the water just is really underrated. I think I've underused, underutilized a great lake that's right in our backyard," O'Conor said.

In January, artists who were financially hit by the pandemic with venues closed, began performing with O'Conor. He said as of the one-year mark on Saturday, 90 artists have performed.

O'Conor said the dives have helped strengthen his mental health and while he doesn't plan to keep doing it every day, he'll still be finding time to plunge into the lake.

"If you put your mind to something, you can do it. You can block anything else out. You can have a positive mental attitude about something and almost will yourself to endure the pain or whatever the obstacles are to achieve that goal," he said.