The Third Annual Kingdom Swim
10 miles, 6 miles, 3 miles, 1 mile, 1/4 mile, 100 yard
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
Our 2010 YouTube video is now available on line by clicking here
Kingdom Swim is a true
celebration of open water swimming held on Lake Memphremagog in the heart of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont – one of only a few geotourism areas in the world specially designated by
National Geographic. Kingdom Swim is a competitive and recreational charity swim for all skill levels, young and old alike, now offering distances of 10 miles, 6 miles, 3 miles, 1 mile, 1/4
mile and 100 yards on Saturday, July 9th, 2011.
The 10 mile, 6 mile, 3 mile and 1 mile swims will host two divisions, wet suit and non-wet suit. At 8:00 am, the 10 milers will leave from Prouty Beach, in Newport, head out of the bay, past the lighthouse, north to the border, around Black, Belle, and Cove Islands and back. The 6 milers will leave at 8:30 am and the 3 milers will start at 9:00 am. The 1 mile, 1/4 mile, and 100 yard swims will be run in Newport Bay in the afternoon.
Kingdom Swim was sanctioned by USMS in 2009 and 2010 and we will seek sanctioning again in 2011. All adult Swimmers are required to be USMS members. All youth swimmers 18 and under are required to be members of USA Swimming. We offer one day only memberships for those who do not have yearly memberships.
Registration for each distance in 2011 is now open. Each course is limited to the first 100 participants who are registered and paid. These limits have been set to assure that
this event does not grow too fast and that we can adequately support each swimmer who makes the commitment to join the swim. Registration for the 10 mile, 6 mile and 3 mile courses will
be closed on June 1st 2011. Registration for the 1 mile course and the shorter youth courses will remain open until June 30th, 2011. Youth under 18 can participate in any of the six
events. Adults can participate only in the 1, 3, 6, and 10 mile swims.
Registration on line and more information is available here.
The prior open water swimming experience of all registrants for the 10 mile, 6 mile, and 3 mile swims will be reviewed by Leslie Thomas, a member of our Advisory Committee to assure that they are sufficiently qualified to enter the event. We also offer ongoing assistance in planning, preparation, and training to assure that swimmers with limited open water experience can become qualified in time for the event and also to help any and all entrants get the most out of their Kingdom Swim experience. For more information, please check out Technical Support.
We encourage and support recreational as well as competitive open water swimming. However, 7 hours after the start of the 10 mile event, we reserve the right to pull any remaining swimmers out of the water. Our volunteer flotilla of patrol boats will need to get ready for the evening’s activities and we can’t expect them to stay on the lake beyond that point. We also reserve the right to pull 6 mile swimmers after 6 hours, and 3 mile swimmers after 3 hours.
Those interested in participating in the youth swim are invited to check out our Youth Swim section on this home page. Youth swim registrations will also be limited to the first 100 paid registrations we have received, however youth swim registrations will remain open until June 30th, unless we have 100 registered youth swimmers before then.
All fees are non-refundable. We expressly reserve the right to delay, reschedule, or even cancel the swim in the event of extremely adverse weather conditions, a substantial threat of lightening, or dense fog seriously limiting visibility.
This is a charity swim to support IROC’s Healthy Changes Initiative for people suffering from Diabetes, Obesity, and Heart disease. Prizes will be offered for highest pledges, largest groups, biggest families, furthest traveled to the event, plus the fastest times. We’ve got some great prizes lined up already, including a guided Alcatraz Swim in San Francisco Bay donated by Swim Art. We will be adding prizes right up to the day of the event. Please check out our Last One Back to the Barn Award, a complete autographed set of the works to date by Howard Mosher. We also offer the George Hunihan For the Love of the Swim Award, for that swimmer who best reflects the spirit of Kingdom Swim, a dinner for two at the Eastside Restaurant. A very special prize will be awarded to any one who spots and photographs our very own lake monster: A lifetime registration in all of IROC’s special athletic and recreational events including, Dandelion Run, Tour de Kingdom, Kingdom Swim, and Kingdom Triathlon.
There will be a Pet and Swimmers Parade on Friday, July 8th starting at 6:30 pm. Swimmers are encouraged to bring their state, provincial, and national flags to fly in the parade. There will be a Swimmers and Kayakers pasta dinner at the Gateway Center in Newport immediately following the parade.
For more information, contact Phil White or Julie Gunn at (802) 334-8511 or e-mail swim@orleansrecreation.org For more information on the Youth Swim, please contact Peter Stuart at pstuart@NCHSI.org, or Charlotte Brynn, cbrynn@theswimmingholestowe.com
Aerial photo of Newport, VT courtesy of Scott Wheeler