Courtesy of Phil White of the Kingdom Games.
Kingdom Swim has become our Flagship Swim for a boisterous, wide ranging series of open water swimming in the Northeast Kingdom (i.e., the northeast corner of the state of Vermont, bordering Canada and northern New Hampshire). We started this swim in 2009 with 1-, 3-, and 10-mile distances. The courses were designed with the help of Ned Denison (MSF bio here) in Cork, Leslie Thomas (MSF bio here) in San Francisco, and Peter Stewart (MSF bio here) along with several other local swimmers. They were intended to lure and support swimmers on a journey out of the pool and into the open water.
Lake Memphremagog offers a frisky and often unpredictable variety of conditions, even within the same swim. Instead of 10 one-mile loops, we chose a more adventurous long course from Prouty Beach into Newport Bay and out and around the islands of Derby Bay. We chose to use only turn buoys, deploying no guide buoys, making navigation a key part of the swim.
After a couple of years, we added a 10 km distance and then a 25 km Border Buster to create a ladder for those who wanted to go and grow long. It was intended to prepare them for our iconic 25-mile international swim the length of Lake Memphremagog, In Search of Memphre … and beyond to the English Channel, 20 Bridges (around Manhattan Island in New York City) and the Catalina Channel, not to mention the Triple Crown of Lake Monster Swims that includes crossings of Lake Tahoe, Lake Memphremagog, and Loch Ness.
But, Kingdom Swim is also, very simply, a celebration of the sport and the community of open water swimmers, kayakers, and boaters that has grown up around this swim, many of whom return year after year to swim the 1-, 3-, and 6-mile courses, join the Pet and Swimmers Costume Parade down Main Street, and savor our scrumptious Swimmers and Yackers Pasta Dinner under the tents on the shores of Mighty Memphremagog. It is Tribal in the very best sense of the word. And the Tribe of Kingdom Nation grows stronger and more far reaching every year now.
Two remarkable children and their family stumbled on Kingdom Swim and “The Ladder” when they were 7 and 10 years old. Toss in some dedicated swimming at NEK Swim Week and the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival and the world of endless possibilities opened. They responded to our call, NO LANES – NO LINES – NO LIMITS.
This is their story.
Darcie Rivard and Kevin Rivard were living on a small pond in Springfield, New Hampshire with their two daughters, Vera (20, MSF bio here, IISA bio here) and Margaret (17, MSF bio here, IISA bio here). The girls loved to swim, almost from their infancy. Darcie stumbled on the existence of Kingdom Swim and, in June 2014, contacted us to see if her 10-year-old daughter was too young to take on the 1-Mile distance at Kingdom Swim.
We had first had this “youth conversation” in 2010, when an 11-year-old from Mumbai, India had applied to swim the 10-mile race at Kingdom Swim. The English Channel had just begun to limit channel swimmers to age 16 and above. After much consideration, we decided not to establish rigid age barriers, but to determine eligibility by a swimmer’s experience swimming distance. We let the experienced 11-year-old swim the 10-mile distance. She was successful, finishing in the middle of the pack.
Our answer to Darcie Rivard was simple, if Vera has swum a mile in freshwater, she was qualified to swim the 1-mile distance at Kingdom Swim. That first year, Vera at age 10 swam the 1-mile swim at Kingdom Swim while her sister, Margaret, age 7, swam the ¼ mile youth swim.
Following the swim, we contacted Darcie to see how it went. She said that Vera loved it. We suggested that she might want to return and swim at Caspian Lake which was a 3-mile swim, but has a 1.5 mile leg to Bathtub Rock. Vera signed on for the 1.5-mile swim. A week before the swim, Darcie called and said her daughter had been practicing and was thinking about going for the full 3 miles. Would that be ok? We replied that Vera could swim to the rock, Darcie would be there in the kayak, we would be there in a support boat and we could decide how it was going at that moment.
The moment arrived. Vera approached the rock. Ever the rascal, head down, she slapped the rock and turned around. Head under water, there was no discussion. When we came around the point, the wind had picked up. The waves were rocking, but Vera rode them like she’d been swimming rough water all her life. She was tiny. She walked up the beach with waves crashing around her knees with a quiet, confident smile. I didn’t say anything but, “Congratulations.” But, you could tell from this swim and the look on her face that she was born to swim … and swim distance, she would, with her younger sister, Margaret, yapping at her heals.
This is where the Kingdom Swim Ladder came into play. Vera and Margaret climbed the ladder year after year. When Vera was 11, she swam the 10 km and 8-year-old Margaret swam the 1 mile. The next year, Vera swam the 10 mile and Margaret swam the 5 km. The year after that, Vera swam the 25 km Border Buster while Margaret swam the 10 mile.
And then, in 2018, when Vera was 14, she swam the 25-mile length of Lake Memphremagog, In Search of Memphre, while Margaret crewed for her and swam the Border Buster at age 11. It was remarkable enough that a 14-year-old could swim the length of the lake. But it was even more so because it was a tough swim that year, with 15 to 20-mile winds in your face for the first half. Of the seven swimmers who started, only two completed, Vera and Shareesa Gutierrez (MSF bio here) of Nebraska. Five trained and experienced adult swimmers did not finish.
Throughout all of this training, Vera and Margaret had also been swimming the NEK Swim Week: 8 lakes over 9 days, totaling 46 miles. During several years, we offered a Double Massawippi option and a Double Willoughby option, bringing the total mileage up to 61. Of course, Vera and Margaret took advantage of these options. Of course, they return each year to swim Kingdom Swim, most often the Border Buster and NEK Swim Week depending on the timing of their other swims.
Margaret was scheduled to take on The Search when she was 13. She was ready. But the border was closed for two years as a result of Covid 19. Margaret was the very first to complete The Search when the border reopened in 2022. She was 15, leaving Vera the youngest to complete the distance.
Vera, Margaret, and Team Rivard fought through the Covid years completing 20 Bridges. Vera was able to get to England, quarantine with her mother for two weeks, and swim the English Channel at age 16 completing Catalina Channel and the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming at age 17. Margaret was hot on her heals, completing the Catalina Channel, the English Channel, and the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming when she was 16 and becoming the youngest person to complete the English Channel and the Triple Crown.
Into the mix we added the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival. Team Rivard could not stay away, regularly swimming all events offered. Since then, Vera has completed 2 Ice Miles with the help of the Low Society and has competed at the National Ice Swimming Championships in Virginia and the International Ice Swimming Championships in Malveno, Italy.
Into the mix, when Vera was swimming them 10 km at Kingdom Swim in 2015 with Darcie paddling, they fell in love with Derby Bay and decided then and there that the family should buy a seasonal camp with access to Derby Bay. They did just that. During the summers ever since, Vera and Margaret have swum almost every day – varying distances and varying conditions in Derby Bay. In 2024, Vera and Margaret completed their historic 50-Mile Tandem Double Cross of Lake Memphremagog in 35 hours 34 minutes. According to Marathon Swimming Federation, it is the longest tandem swim on record: longest by distance and duration.
Both Vera and Margaret have joined the Clubhous Gangstas and are trained and experienced co-pilots on escort boats for In Search of Memphre. They have also served as swim technicians and coaches for BrynnSwimm and at The Swimming Hole in Stowe.
At our request, Darcie interviewed her daughters for this piece.
Vera remarked, “It’s always fun to wake up in the morning and see what Memphre has in store for us. Sometimes it’s like glass and other times if feels like we are in a washing machine. It’s great mental and physical training!”
Vera finished her interview by saying, “The best thing about Kingdom Games is the feeling that anything is possible. Phil, Kathleene, and crew truly create magic. They are willing to support swimmers as they dream big and have a great time along the way. In the Northeast Kingdom there are truly No Lanes, No Lines, No Limits.”
Margaret said of her experience with Kingdom Swim and NEK Swim Week, “It offers a great chance to train with like-minded swimmers, experience a wide range of swim conditions, all while swimming in some of the most beautiful lakes that Vermont has to offer. If you are looking for a challenge, it’s a great time to take the plunge. There is a swim course for a wide range of abilities.”
Both sisters agree that “Our journey with Kingdom Games has been completely crazy, wonderful, and full of surprises. You never know where you will end up. We can’t wait for more fun this summer.”
If you have a similar story about the impact of Kingdom Swim and swimming in the NEK and want to share it, we want to hear it. Please send it to us at phil@kingdomgamess.co. If you are inspired by their story and want to join in the fun, there is never a better time to sign up, than right now! http://kingdomgames.co.
