2024
On Lake Memphremagog between Newport, VT and Magog, QC
In Search of Memphre is a 25-mile international swim on Lake Memphremagog between Newport, Vermont and Magog, Quebec. This amateur swim was started in 2011 on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, in part to promote a more open border with our Canadian friends and to search for our elusive, swimmer friendly, lake creature, Memphre.
It has expanded and evolved to include several three-day windows throughout June, July, August and September. Up to two swimmers are allowed in each window.
All swimmers must have swum at least 25 km in under 10 hours and 30 minutes, unless special arrangements are made for slow but strong swimmers. They are also required to have at least three hours of nighttime, open water swimming experience.
We offer one of two pontoon boats with pilots or a 16-foot motorized wooden dory with pilot for support. Swimmer is responsible for providing a crew member. We can find crew for an additional fee. Kayaks and kayakers are no longer used/
Base fee in 2024 is $2,950 for boat and pilot with $500 deposit at time of registration. Remainder is due on March 1, 2024. We can provide a crew member for an additional $500.
We establish three-day windows and pick the very best of the three. We leave from The EastSide Restaurant anytime between 12:01 am and 5:30 am on one of the three days. Swimmers and crew are REQUIRED to arrive in Newport by late afternoon two days before the first day of the window, and not plan their return home until at least the day after the last day of the window.
1 or 2 swimmers will be swimming during any one of the windows.
Here’s the Schedule of Windows for 2024 (CLICK HERE)
To register/apply for the Search in 2024 (CLICK HERE). As of beginning of October, 9 Swimmer Scouts have signed up for 2024. Three windows are now full: those beginning on July 8th, August 20th, and August 27th. There remains at least one slot available in the other four windows.
We are proud of the Swimmer Scouts who have completed this swim.
Pantheon of All Knights Memphre
Video – The Search – 2011 – 2015
History and Mystery of Lake Memphremagog
The swim is hosted, organized, and supported by Kingdom Games, Inc. and the Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association in collaboration with Barbara Malloy, of Newport, Vermont, Vermont’s 1st Lady Dracontologist.
Completion times for amateurs have ranged from approximately 11 hrs 30 mins to 24 hrs and 11 minutes. Swimming as a professional, Shelley Taylor Smith set the women’s record in the 1990s with a time of 8 hours and 35 minutes.
Water temperatures generally range from 67 F to 74 F. They have been in the high 60’s some years. In 2017, after a week of cloudy and windy weather, the lake temperature dropped to 65 F and the air temp at night dropped to 40 F. A week later after a string of sunny days, water temps had risen to 70+ F and nighttime temps were in the mid 50s and low 60s.