NEWPORT — This week four marathon open water swimmers completed the 25-mile, international swim on Lake Memphremagog between Newport, Vermont, and Magog, Quebec, known as In Search of Memphre.
On Wednesday, they entered the water from the EastSide Restaurant at midnight, swam through the night, and arrived at the beach at Parc du la Baie-du-Magog in the early afternoon.
Susan L. Knight, 48, of Kennebunk, ME, completed in 12 hours and 59 minutes, followed by Abigail Fairman, 41, of New York, NY, in 13 hours and 40 minutes.
Kate English, 30, of Seattle, Washington, completed in 13 hours and 56 minutes, and Daniela Klaz, 26, of Jamaica Plain, MA in 14 hours and 26 minutes.
Water temperature of the lake ranged from 68 to 70 F. Air temperatures dropped to the high 50’s during the night and rose to the high 60s and low 70’s during the day.
Winds were light and variable throughout the swim.
The swim is organized and hosted by Kingdom Games which now offers over 25 days of running, biking, swimming, and ice skating in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and the Eastern Townships of Quebec.
Right through the cynobacteria in that dirty water. I can’t believe that they were allowed to swim. There are signs posted saying that it’s dangerous. Just saying. It’s amazing that they can swim it and that’s a good thing, but how come the environmental hazard was ignored?