Courtesy of Phil White.
Phil White reported on In Search of Memphre, the 40.2 km cross-border swim between the U.S. state of Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec.
August 12th 2026 Swimmer Scouts
He reported, “Window III of this year’s Search was filled with two strong Swimmer Scouts, Reilly Dibner (46, USA, MSF bio here) of Laramie, Wyoming, coached by Sarah Thomas and Neil Hailstone, and Isaac Vernon (25, USA, MSF bio here) of Tampa, Florida, coached by Jen Dutton.
The two joined The Search shortly after midnight on August 12th. Isaac stepped into the water at 12:01 am at the Newport City Dock and Boat Ramp. He was escorted up the lake by Molly, one of Kingdom Games’ pontoon boats, piloted by Karina Palmorino and Vera Rivard with crew members Isabella Vernon, Paul Valitutto, and Wyatt Tubbs.
Reilly started 10 minutes behind Isaac at 12:11 am. She was escorted by Lucky, another one of Kingdom Games’ pontoons, piloted by Margaret Rivard and Phil White with support crew members Elizabeth Bouchard-Hall and Lauren Holder.
The night was warm and clear with water temperatures running in the low 70s at night and rising to mid 70s during the day. Winds ranged from negligible to 5 to 9 mph from the WSW shifting to the West. We were treated to the Perseid Meteor Showers during the night.
Both Isaac and Reilly were swimming strong, when the threat of afternoon showers turned into nearby thunderstorms. Reilly sprinted the last two miles to the shore. Isaac was even closer when the lightning got within 5 miles . We had to pull both swimmers. Time of the pull was 3:55 pm. Both swimmers were within 2 miles of the finish and swimming strong.
Both Reilly and Isaac were devastated by the pull, crying in their boats, wrapped in their towels, and wondering how this could happen so close to the finish. But, Isaac moved on to complete his run back to Newport. He then set out on the second leg of his swim-run challenge, to run 20+ miles back to Newport, Vermont with his crew supporting his run. And, the very next day, Reilly signed up to return in 2027 to finish her unfinished business with Memphre.“
White summarized his history of In Search of Memphre. “During the 15 years we’ve run The Search, we have only been interrupted by lightning twice. One was about an hour into a swim. We aborted and came back the next day. The other was during the double crossing by Ray Gandy. He had completed 46 miles when a thunderstorm came out of nowhere and went nowhere, but dropped 3 bolts of lighting within 50 yards of us, a funnel of 60 mph wind, and hail. Ray popped out of the water and into his boat like a cork out of a bottle. It was devastating.
Three swimmers this Summer have come within 2 miles of the beach in Magog when their swims ended, Ben Bryant (briefly unconscious at mile 24.7 or 30.7 km), Isaac (lightning at mile 23.7 or 38.1 km) and Reilly (lightning at mile 23 or 37 km). It has caused us to create a 23-Mile Club In Search of Memphre, in their honor. To paraphrase Sarah Thomas, we saw a lot of Grit, Guts and Grace from each of these three remarkable Swimmer Scouts.”
August 18th 2026 Swimmer Scouts
On August 18th at 12:01 am, Natalie Cowart (36, USA) started her In Search of Memphre at the Newport City Dock and Boat Ramp in Vermont. She exited the water at Magog Bay Park in Magog, Quebec. Canada at 5:52 pm. Her cross-border marathon swim of 17 hours 51 minutes was piloted by Karina Palmorino and Vera Rivard as her husband, Antonio Cotroneo, crewed for her.
Sarah Dobbin (51, Canada, MSF bio here) started ten minutes after Natalie at 12:11 am and finished at 5:35 pm. Her cross-border swim of 17 hours 24 minutes was piloted by Margaret Rivard and Phil White with the support crew of Susan McKay and Leslie Dusevic.
White reports, “Heavy fog engulfed us for about 7 hours, from shortly before 2 am to shortly after 9 am when it lifted. I t was so thick that our Navionics stopped functioning and the currents had us shifting directions constantly. At one point Lucky and Sarah came upon Molly and Natalie and we were traveling in opposite directions.
We turned to our compasses and our paper charts.
We were often in and out of sight of each other, but could not see any shoreline unless we were close upon it, except briefly around 6 am before the dense fog descended on us again and stuck around until shortly after 9 am.
Over many decades I have come to know, love, and trust Lake Memphremagog, by day and by night, fair weather and foul, sober and drunk. It paid off once again with this Fog Bustin’ crossing. Natalie and Sarah refused to give up, even though for the longest stretch, it felt like we had landed on another planet and our boats seemed like ghost boats floating slowly through random currents and the Mists of Memphremagog.
After the fog lifted, we experienced warm waters, gentle winds and mostly sunny skies for the rest of the day. As we approached Magog, we were cheered by passing boaters including many on the deck of Escapades Memphremagog, Magog’s large tour boat, bar and restaurant.
Next day, we gathered at The Clubhous, signed each nameplate, tacked the others to the Garage Wall, went to the Brown Cow for breakfast and then to Jasper’s Tavern to sign the ceiling above the bar.
An unforgettable adventure with some wonder filled adventurers.“
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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