Courtesy of Phil White of the Kingdom Games.
55-year-old Sara Wolf of Auburn, Alabama and 19-year-old Isabella Gerardi of Seekonk, Massachusetts completed the 40 km In Search of Memphre across Lake Memphremagog between Vermont and Quebec, Canada.
Wolf started 10 minutes before Gerardi in their cross-border swim at 12:01 am, finishing 17 hours 22 minutes later. Gerardi finished her swim in 14 hours 1 minute.
Phil White describes their crossings, “Sara was escorted by The Office, piloted by Robert Roberge of Derby, Vermont and Gary Coburn of Newport Center, Vermont with crew by Teresa Gerade of Newport and boat support by Shelly Roberge. Isabella (Ella) was escorted by Lucky, piloted by Vera Rivard of Derby and me. Her mother Kristen Gerardi crewed for her.
A third pontoon boat, Molly, was piloted by Benjamin Bryant of Steuben, Maine and Margaret Rivard of Derby. Molly provided redundancy in case one of the two escort boats ran into trouble and as a moving tripod for our newest Kingdom Games photographer, Margaret at the Camera.
Memphre could not have been more welcoming. A light tail wind ranging from negligible to about 6 mph from the SSW throughout, A cloudless star-lit night. Water temperature ranged from 72 to 76°F. Air temperature ranged from the mid to upper 50°F’s at night to low 80°F’s during the afternoon. Although there were warnings of a possibility of heavy fog, it never appeared on the lake (although we could see it in some of the valleys to the south). No rain. The water at dawn offered some delicious swimming for both Sara and Isabella.
Both swims were conducted in full compliance with traditional channel crossing rules as published by Marathon Swimmers Federation. Each of these swims has been ratified by the Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association on July 9th.
Robert Roberge, Gary Coburn, and Ben Bryant are part of the expanded corps of Memphre Boat Pilots which is made possible by a VOREC grant obtained by Newport Downtown Development. They are all experienced in boating, but are now trained and experienced as escort boat pilots to allow us to expand and strengthen In Search of Memphre.
This year marks a return to the use of the Newport City Dock and Boat Ramp for the start of the swim. This was made possible with the support and approval of Mayor Linda Joy Sullivan, City Manager Jonathan DeLaBruere, and Director of the Parks and Recreation Department Mike Brown, and the Newport City Council.
In Search of Memphre is held with the support of Barbara Malloy, Vermont’s First Lady Dracontologist, who has documented over 170 sightings of Memphre going back to 1816.
The following day, we signed one of Sara’s and Ella’s nameplates and tacked the others to the wall of The Clubhous Garage. Later that afternoon, Sara and Ella recorded their swims on the ceiling above the bar at Jasper’s Tavern in downtown Newport.
Sara and Ella are the second and third completions of the 2024 season. Caroline Block led the way in June. 12 more swimmers will be making the attempt in July, August, and September.
Ella became the third youngest swimmer to complete The Search. Vera Rivard was the youngest at age 14 and her sister Margaret was the second youngest at age 15.
For Sara and Ella, this 25-Mile Search was the longest swim of their lives.
Unlike Ella, Sara is an adult onset marathon swimmer. Sara’s first marathon swim was a 6.5-mile swim around Province Island at The Clubhous during NEK Swim Week in 2017, when she was 48. Her first marathon race was the 10 km Bridges to Bluffs, which she completed in 2019 and again in 2021. She has also swum The Suck, Boston Light, Mobile Bay, and 3 Rivers. She was scheduled to swim the Search last year, but heavy, prolonged rains, flash floods, and rising lake levels closed us down for 6 weeks. But she’s back this year. With this swim under her belt, she’s set her sights on SCAR and the English Channel in 2025.
Ella started competitive swimming when she was 8 in order to beat her older brother at something. Later, as a teen, one of her pool coaches suggested she try the Buzzard Bay one-mile in 2018. She loved it and was on her way. When she learned that the scrappy 16-year-old Vera Rivard had swum the English Channel, she discovered Vera’s ladder going long was the Kingdom Swim. She signed up for her first marathon swim at the 10 km Kingdom Swim in 2021, finishing third at age 16. Vera was swimming the Border Buster that year where they met and became good friends. She finished ninth in the 10-mile race at Kingdom Swim a year later. Last year, she completed a brutal 15-mile triple crossing of Lake Willoughby with two of those legs into a fierce wind of 10 to 15 mph. She has her sights on 20 Bridges and beyond. Ella is also a member of the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Society, competing in our 2024 Winter Swim Festival.
Two very different stars were born during this swim. Both are now launched. And we had the honor and joy of watching it unfold before our very eyes.“
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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