A soulful Brynn swims in search of Memphre

Charlotte Brynn, 57, of Stowe and Newport, swam the 25-mile length of Lake Memphremagog last week in 13 hours and 3 minutes, becoming the first amateur open water swimmer to swim the length of the lake three times.

Brynn’s first crossing was Sept. 10, 2011, in 14 hours and 40 minutes, and her second crossing was July 19, 2017, 13 hours and 28 minutes.

She is the third swimmer this year to complete the course known as The Search, and it marks the 52nd successful crossing since Kingdom Games started The Search in 2011 to promote a more open border with Canada and to seek out the elusive, swimmer-friendly lake creature, Memphre.

Brynn left from the Eastside Restaurant in Newport, at 6:55 a.m. on a chilly late summer morning, Wednesday, Aug. 23. Her swim was magical right from the start, with mist still rising from the lake as she headed out of Newport Bay. Air temperatures soon warmed to the mid-seventies on an almost cloudless day with light winds from the south, shifting from the west as she made the turn at Georgeville. The water temperature ran about 72 degrees throughout the swim.

Brynn fed the entire way with a mixture of warm, solid food.

Crewing for her were Paula Yankauskas of Hyde Park and Janine Serell of Charleston, South Carolina. Lucky, one of Kingdom Games’ pontoon boats, was piloted by myself, Vera Rivard, and Margaret Rivard.

In addition to their other duties on board, Margaret Rivard and Yankauskas buddy swam with Charlotte at various points during the swim. Rivard is undertaking an English Channel swim in September, while Yankauskas will be undertaking her own double crossing of Memphremagog this coming week. Quite the taper.

Crews had prepared to support Brynn in a double-crossing attempt. Darcie BeBlois-Rivard met the crew at what would have been the turnaround point, with croissants for the following morning. However, Brynn was deeply satisfied with the happiness of her swim and decided to savor that joy of the moment and call the swim in Magog.

BeBlois-Rivard then drove Brynn and Yankauskas back to Newport by land, while the crew piloted Lucky south under a gorgeous half-moon that lit their way all the way back down the lake.

Brynn’s swim was in full conformity with traditional channel crossing rules and has been ratified by the Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association.

Brynn is a child of Memphremagog and her soul runs deep in this lake. She started her open water career as a 3-mile wetsuit swimmer at the very first Kingdom Swim in 2009.

She won an entry into Ned Denison’s Cork Distance Week in 2010 and returned to swim the 10-mile distance that year without a wetsuit, and again in 2011. That same year, she was one of four out of ten swimmers to complete the first 25-mile international amateur swim In Search of Memphre, which she and others did battling fierce headwinds most of the way.

She has swum the 32-mile length of Lake George, been bitten by a shark while attempting a crossing of Catalina Channel and has swum the 28-mile distance around Manhattan Island. She has swum across Lake Willoughby over 20 times. She has long served as executive director of The Swimming Hole in Stowe.

But her spirit thrives in Lake Memphremagog. This lake is her well-spring and she has swum at almost every Kingdom Swim, establishing solo swims from Newport to Ile Ronde and back, to Skinner Island and back, and from Georgeville to Newport.

Several years ago, she and her husband, Jeff Brynn, bought a house on The Bluffs in Newport. She swims long distances in the lake almost daily throughout the summer. In fact, she has probably spent more time and swum more miles in mighty Memphremagog than any other human being.

When the lake gets frisky during one of her swims, she sees it as Memphre greeting her. Several years ago, she started Swim Tech, with highly acclaimed camps, clinics, and tune-ups offering high level training on Lake Memphremagog to swimmers looking to take their open water swimming to the next level.

This has been a hard year for her for many reasons, one of which was the loss of Lake Memphremagog for distance swimming for almost a month after Vermont was ravaged by heavy rains and flooding.

This swim was different. Charlotte was in her element all day long, swimming almost effortlessly, enjoying this homecoming of sorts, accepting the loving, lavish embrace of this spiritual lake. She was wise to call the swim complete on Plage de Magog and simply savor her journey with her soul lake.

Phil White is director of Kingdom Games.

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