NEWPORT — On Monday, Jaimie Monahan, of New York, NY, swam the 25-mile distance on Lake Memphremagog between Newport, Vermont, and Magog, Quebec in 14 hours and 18 minutes.
She left the Newport City Dock at 5:53 a.m. under cloudy skies and arrived in Magog as the sun was setting at 8:11 p.m.
Winds were light and rain was heavy at times, but the threat of a thunderstorm never materialized. Water temperature ranged from 70 to 71 F.
Arik Thormahlen, also of New York, crewed for her. Phil White of Kingdom Games piloted the wooden dory, Django, and made the arrangements for pre-authorization of her clearance across the international border into Canada.
Monahan is a world renowned ultra-marathon swimmer, a world champion winter swimmer, and an accomplished ice swimmer. She won the 2016 Barra Award for Best Overall Year by the Marathon Swimmers Federation and the 2016 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year award from the World Open Water Swimming Association.
She is the first person to complete the Ice Seven Challenge, swimming a mile in sub 5 C water on all seven continents, the final swim being in Argentina on July 2nd, 2017. She has swum in the Memphremagog Winter Swim in 2015 and 2016. This is the first time she has swum in Vermont during the summer.
Monahan’s swim kicks off what is scheduled to be a record-breaking number of border-busting swims on Lake Memphremagog during this summer season.
Charlotte Brynn of Stowe is the next up with an individual solo attempt the length of the lake on July 17.
On July 29, 39 swimmers are signed up for the 25 km swim from Newport into Canada, around Province Island and back to Newport as part of Kingdom Swim.
Seven swimmers are signed on to swim the length of the lake in September.
Canadian and US border officials have helped facilitate these crossings.
