Kingdom Games now organizes, promotes, and hosts 20 days of highly acclaimed running, biking and swimming events in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. They are challenging to the very best athletes and accessible to all. The Kingdom is a working agricultural landscape with fields, rolling hills, forests, mountains, rivers, streams and lakes. Some of our lakes (like Willoughby) are pristine, others (like Memphremagog) are mysterious and feisty at times. The Kingdom was one of the very first 10 Geotourism Areas in the world, specially designated by National Geographic. To our way of seeing things, it is one of the quietly most beautiful places on earth.
Our games showcase the beauty of The Kingdom. The course of our Dandelion Run and Bike is mostly on dirt roads through the Dandelion Fields of Derby, Morgan, and Holland during High Spring when the fields are golden for as far as the eye can see. Our Fly to Pie – Kingdom Marathon takes runners and bikers through “The Gut” of the Kingdom at the height of Fall Foliage.
Our Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival was recently featured in Chris Ballard’s new book on cold water swimming, The Plunge. Water temperature of our 25-meter, two-lane pool typically runs 30.5 F (think microscopic slushie). Air temperature can range from -10 F to 25 F. Most years, at the end of February we are colder than Siberia. It’s TOTALLY COLD. It is the only competitive winter swimming pool cut in the ice in all of the Americas. But, we have some kind of fun. We like to say “It’s the best damn pool party in all of the Americas.” Or as one septuagenarian from Toronto once said, “For two days, Newport is the happiest place on the planet.”
Where we have achieved world wide acclaim is for our open water swimming events. Kingdom Swim, our Flagship, offers distances of 1 mile, 5 k, 10 k, 10 miles, and 25 k (Border Buster). In Searcch of Memphre is our 25-mile swim the length of Lake Memphremagog between Newport, VT and Magog, QC. NEK Swim Week involves swimming 8 lakes over the course of 9 days, totaling 46 miles, Kingdom Swim and the Willoughby Swim are frequently listed in Openwaterpedia as among the top 100 swims in the world, Members of the World Open Water Swimming Association voted Kingdom Swim the Silver Medal Finalist for best event in the world in 2023.
“In his ambitious vision to create world-class open-water swimming opportunities in an improbable, landlocked location, Phil stands among the most powerful and consistent contributors to the sport over the past 10 years. To paraphrase a famous movie line: He built it, and they came.” 2019-2020 Marathon Swimmers Federation Service to Marathon Swimming Award. Our swims are now recognized as “One of the world’s most prolific and beloved series of open water swimming events….” Evan Morrison, Marathon Swimmers Federation.
During the past decade, The Northeast Kingdom of Vermont has emerged as “an unlikely mecca” for open water swimming.
“Far, far away from the most renowned hotbeds of open water swimming, Phil White has created an unlikely mecca of open water swimming and endurance sports in Vermont,” says Steven Munatones, publisher of the Daily News of Open Water Swimming. “White has enabled people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to realize some of their greatest athletic accomplishments. Phil is a dream maker with an endearing smile and a strategic, long-term vision that he has painstakingly executed day by day and mile by mile. His efforts have not only lifted up all the boats in the global open water swimming community, but will also provide future generations of swimmers from around the world a unique challenge and enjoyment of swimming in the Northeast Kingdom.”
“Phil White has drawn thousands to the NEK for his Kingdom Games events and put Newport on the map as an international distance swimming center.” Vermont Sports Magazine, selecting Phil among the Vermont Sports 30 — “people who had a significant impact in the last 30 years on outdoor recreation in Vermont. Thirty people who had shaped our landscape.”
We have done this with a skeletal crew of staff and an army of battle hardened volunteers who support the mission of The Games. We have enjoyed the support of local businesses such as Community National Bank, Pick & Shovel, and Pomerleau Real Estate as sponsors with contributions by Friends of NEKOWSA,
The result. Over 5,000 swimmers (and an equal number of kayakers and volunteers) have made the pilgrimage to Swim the Kingdom either at Kingdom Swim, In Search of Memphre, NEK Swim Week or our Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival. Many return and return often. They have travelled from 47 states (including Alaska and Hawaii), Five Canadian provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia, as well as 15 other nations, including Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Switzerland, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Poland, India, Latvia, Russia, and Finland.
We offer nothing fancy. A challenging event, in an incredible venue, with nothing more than Brault’s Beef Jerky and Couture’s Maple Syrup for prizes; all with an occasional hand carved walking stick thrown in at Kingdom Swim and “woodals,” and clay rocks from Lake Memphremagog as participation prizes. We start on time and know how to stick to our schedule. That’s it. And we celebrate our high-spirited, good-hearted athletes and volunteers and the camaraderie they bring to our events.
Kingdom Games is a small business that pays taxes. We purchase all products and services from local businesses, whenever possible.
