Courtesy of Phil White, the Walt Disney of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, has recreated another magical kingdom literally on Lake Memphremagog. Photo above of the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival pool by C.J. Gunther of EFE/EPA

Once again for three days at the end of February, Newport, Vermont was transformed into the happiest place on the planet. 169 Winter Swimmers along with some 40 Volunteers descended on our little city hard by the Canadian border to gather, swim and compete at the Tenth Annual Winter Swim Festival held on Lake Memphremagog at The EastSide Restaurant & Pub. Swimming events extended over three days, February 22nd, 23rd, and 24th 2024. On Thursday, the 21^st we held our Opening Ceremony with a Ribbon Cutting by Linda Joy Sullivan, Newport’s Mayor, a Two Potato Gun Salute fired off by Pool Cutter, Michael Booth and the Boyz of Winter, and an inaugural swim the 25-meter length of the ice pool by our local winter swimmers, the Sharkbait Sheilas, led by Pam Ladds and Charlotte Brynn. 

After opening the pool for the Festival, many swimmers and volunteers joined us for a Warm-Up Party at Jasper’s Tavern. During the party, several “Swimmer Scouts,” who had swum the 25-mile length of Lake Memphremagog, In Search of Memphre, signed the ceiling of the bar, continuing a tradition recently started by Nadine Bennett and Charlotte Brynn. Recent signers included Elaine Kornbau Howley, Greg O’Connor, Vera Rivard, Margaret Rivard, Natalie Lang, Kaurie Craigen, Steven Rouch, Daniela Klaz, and Bill Shipp. Swimmers and volunteers then dispersed to various restaurants around town for the rest of the evening. For some photos see Ceiling Signing at Jasper’s Tavern.

Photo above by Pauline Farmer

Swimmers attending this year’s Festival traveled from the West: British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Mexico, Texas, Arizona, from the Central states and provinces: Illinois, Ohio and Ontario, and from the East: the United Kingdom, New Brunswick, Quebec, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

This year, Friday was relatively warm. Air temperature was in the mid to high 40°F’s with some puddles of water on top of the ice. Water temperature was about 34°F.  Saturday arrived bitter cold with air temperatures hovering around 2°F in the morning, rising to 10°F in the afternoon, with a brisk wind most of the day.  Water temperatures dropped to 32°F.  Sunday was a bit warmer, Sunny, with air temperatures in the teens and 20°F/s and water temperature still around 32°F.

There were the speedy among us. 

Winners of the 25-meter Freestyle:  

• Stephen Rouch (13.77)
• Stephanie Kors (15.07)

Winners of the 25 meter Breaststroke:

• Andrew Wallace (19.08)
• Mary James (20.98)

Winners of the 25 meter Butterfly: 

• Kent Lassman (16.82)
• Susan McKay (16.63)

Winners of the 50 meter Freestyle:

• Quinn Fitzgerald (30.24)
• Amy Meskill (31.12)

Winners of the 100 meter Freestyle:

• Stephen Rouch (1.06.72)
• Amy Meskill (1.13.73)

Winners of the 200 meter Freestyle:

• Stephen Rouch (2.27.34)
• Juliet Kadlecek (2.48.99)

Winners of the 4 x 25 Virgin Relay:

• Quarry Rockstars (1.11.43)

Winners of the 4 x 50 Relay:

Free Agents Team 1 (2.20.22)

And there were five new pool records set this year:

• 25 meter Freestyle: Stephanie Kors
• 50 meter Freestyle: Amy Meskill
• 100 meter Freestyle: Steven Rouch (breaking his own record)
• 200 meter Freestyle: Steven Rouch (breaking his own record)
• 4 x 50 Relay: Free Agent Team 1, led by Juliet Kadlecek

We had the grudge matches among friends. In previous years it has been Rick Born versus Talbot Crowell in the 25 meter butterfly.  This year, neither showed. Talbot on account of a thing called work.  Rick, on account of a bout with COVID.  Instead, we were treated to the head-to-head clash of Ed Gabriels and Ted Hirsch in the 200 meter Freestyle, with Ed taking down Ted, as he did in the Nationals in Virginia in January.

The 4 x 50 Relay featured its own grudge match between Boston and New York. This year, New York did not field a full team, giving Boston the win by default. But Juliet Kadlecek, the speedster from NYC, grabbed a team of Free Agents, built for speed including, Julian Flear, Andrew Wallace, and Qing Li. They left the Boston Baddasses in the dust for the second year in a row AND set a new pool record in the 4 x 50.

Those who placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd received varying amounts and sizes of Brault’s Beef Jerky and Couture’s Maple Syrup.

This year we reported winners in several other categories, including Para/Adoptive, Non Binary, and Trans. They included Rena Demeo who overcame some significant demons to crush the 200 meter freestyle with her snorkel.  Sam Levenson came out as Non Binary during the Festival itself, inspired by Isabella Vallano (NB), Medea Ramnath-Christiansen (NB), and Chance Krempasky (Trans).

Link below for additional reference:

• Final Roster of Participants
• All Times in All Events and Other Awards
• Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival 2024 – Shared Photos 
• MWSF 2024 Photos by Kathleene Marcil

For more information, visit www.kingdomgames.co.

We started the Hat Competition as a friendly, low-key way to introduce winter swimmers to the coldest of cold water. It does do that. But it has turned into the fiercest competition of them all. This year’s hats were OFF THE CHARTS. We pity the poor Hat Judges, Rena Demeo, Ted Hirsch, and Bill Brown, who had to choose the top three Solo Hats and the top three Team Hats.

The Team Hats stole the show with Vera and Margaret Rivard’s Memphre Hats winning first place. Team California’s Golden Gate Bridge Hat came in Second. Janet Kylander Manning and the Dabulamanzi, jumped eight into the pool, seven reindeer and one Santa and his sled. Of course, Janet wore her Rudolph nose to lead the way. 

There were some gorgeous floral hats competing among the Solo Hats, This year’s winners were Martha Wood, with her hat dedicated to the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Society and “how it has helped me make my way in the world.” Joanne Barker, with her Titanic meets The Iceburg Hat. And, Anna Valeria Zuccolotto Soto’s Dance of the Deer, an indigenous dance of Northern Mexico in which the deer acts as a quire to help us find our way in life.

Volunteers

The Festival was supported by more than 40 battle hardened volunteer Hookers, Strippers, Escorts, Gunners Skimmers, Go Go Girls/ Huggers, and Timers. The praise for them was universal and resounding. This year we extended the categories eligible for the Bob Kraft Happy Hooker Award to include, Hookers, Escorts and Strippers. This year’s winners were Jim and Jayne McGivergan. They have been volunteering for Winter and Summer events for years, happily doing anything that needed to be done, engaging with swimmers walking to and from the ice pool, and travelling from Rhode Island just to do so. They too received antique ice tongs. 

Probably time to note that some friends and relatives have suggested that our volunteer nomenclature may be misogynist. To which we respectfully disagree. First, over time, the names have emerged organically by function. Second, we have male and female strippers and escorts. These names may be tawdry, for sure. Falstaffian, just a bit. We are a low society, after all. And our rolls of volunteers are filled to the brim with great good spirits, happily signing on to be an “escort” a “stripper” or a “hooker” year after year. We thank them, from the bottom of our hearts.

To be continued.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“