Near the 10-mile mark of his swim from Porter Beach to Chicago on Wednesday, Chesterton's Ethan Hall, 17, thought he couldn't continue.

The spot where he stopped on last year's swim - the 10.3 mile mark - was like a "mental block," he said. But Hall kept on, eventually swimming about 23 miles of a 29-mile path to Chicago's Oak Street Beach, he said. Hall swam onto the beach after he was picked up in a trailing boat for a stretch, he said. He physically could have finished the swim, he said, but people were waiting for him at Oak Street Beach, Hall said.

"I couldn't let those people down," Hall said.

He said he didn't know Wednesday night how much money he raised for diabetes research. He said he ached Wednesday night.

Just after 5 a.m. Wednesday, Jacob Strothoff ran to the shoreline at Porter Beach as the sun began to rise.

"Good luck, Ethan!" the Portage 10-year-old said with his arms outstretched.

Standing in his wetsuit, Hall scooped the blond boy off the sand and spun him around in tight bear hug.

"I'll see you in Chicago, all right?" Hall said.

With a wave to his family and friends and a thank you for coming out to support him, the teen set off for his second fundraising attempt. Hall's efforts were dedicated to Jacob, a family friend with Type 1 diabetes.

When he launched from the beach Wednesday morning, Hall already had raised $700 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for his efforts to cross the lake.

"I think it is awesome that he would do something like that," Jacob said. "I would never expect anybody to do that."

Wednesday morning, the lake was still with virtually no winds and a water temperature in the upper 60s. Weather worsened later and waves were choppier, Hall said.

Hall made his first attempt to swim across the lake last summer, with strong winds tossing the 140-pound swimmer in 6-foot waves.

Hall and his family expressed sympathies for the family of DaVante Jackson, 14, of Chicago Heights, Ill., who disappeared Sunday in the rough waves of Lake Michigan near Beverly Shores.

Hall said his swim Wednesday was different because of the calm conditions on the lake and his vast experience. The Chesterton High School senior works as a lifeguard at the Indiana Dunes State Park and first hit the water when he was just 6 months old in the family swimming pool.

Hall's mother, Sue, made him pancakes for breakfast -- his favorite before any big swim meet.

"This is a pretty big meet," her son said.

Sue's father, Frank Schnick, of Valparaiso, said he was "hoping for the best" for his grandson.

"He will make it," Schnick said. "I'm determined to go to Chicago to pick him up."

In Chicago, Jacob acclaimed Hall his hero.

"I think it is awesome. I couldn't imagine going at least two miles," he said.

-- Times Staff Writer Dan Hinkel contributed to this report.