Joe Infantino sets new amateur record

In Search of Memphre 2024

On Monday, July 15, 2024, starting at 12:01 am and leaving 10 minutes apart, three open water swimmers set out from Newport City Dock and Boat Ramp attempting to swim the 25-mile length of Lake Memphremagog, In Search of Memphre.

Joe Infantino, 32, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, entered the water at 12:21 am, swam through the night and a steady rain for about an hour during the morning, and cleared the water at Magog Bay Park in Magog, Quebec at 11:37 am for a time of 11 hours and 16 minutes. His time broke the existing amateur record of 11:27 set by David Dammerman, of Saratoga Springs, NY in 2012 during the second year of the Search,

Crewing for Joe was Melissa Burroughs of Chapel Hill, NC, herself a speedy marathon swimmer.  He was escorted by one of Kingdom Games’ pontoon boats, Molly, piloted by Gary Coburn of Newport Center and Donna Dauphinais of Brownington. Kathleene Marcil of Derby provided additional support and serves as an official photographer for The Games.

Cynthia Aguilar, 42, of Juarez, Mexico, entered the water at 12:11 am in Newport, Vermont and exited on the beach of Magog, Quebec at 12:29 pm for a time of 12 hours and18 minutes. Hers is the fifth fastest amateur time on record since The Search began in 2011. Cynthia is also the first amateur Mexican to complete The Search.

Her crew was Marcella Varela Loaeza, of Juarez, Mexico. She was escorted by a Kingdom Games pontoon boat, Lucky, piloted by Phil White of Derby, VT and Margarete Rivard of Derby, Vermont and Springfield, NH

This was just not the night for Bernie Abbot, 30, of Charleston, Massachusetts. Bernie was the lead swimmer, entering the water at 12:01 am but terminating his swim at about 3:30 am after swimming about seven miles.

He was crewed by his mother Irene Abbot and his spouse Jesus Chacin. He was escorted by the Roberge’s pontoon boat, The Office, piloted by Robert Roberge of Derby, VT and Vera Rivard of Derby, VT and Springfield, NH Earlier this summer, at the inaugural NEKOWSA Champion of Champions, Bernie won among the men, with a time of 6:09:03 for this 12 mile challenge, covered in three stages over the course of the day,

Memphre smiled on us for most of the way. Water temperature was about 76 F, with light tailwinds ranging from negligible to 6 MPH. The threat of heavy fog and the possibility of a thunderstorm never materialized. For about an hour in the morning it rained and the tail wind at times picked up to about 12 mph. Night temperatures dropped to the high 60s at night, rising to the low 70s during the day. The sky was generally cloudy although the sun made an occasional appearance. 

Orleans County had experienced some heavy rain several days before, with flash flooding and heavy river flow feeding Lake Memphremagog, whose water level rose about a foot above normal for this time of year, increasing the slight flow northward.

Photos by Kathleene Marcil - Apologies to Cynthia Aguilar for her mis-spelled nameplate

Cynthia Aguilar is an accomplished marathon swimmer. She has completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, (Catalina in 2018) , 20 Bridges (Around Manhattan in 2019) , and the English Channel in 2022). She has completed California’s Triple Crown and the North Channel and Bristol Channel (2023), along with numerous marathon swims in Mexico including Por Ellas Mexico (2017) and Los Cabos Challenge (2017), She has swum the length of Lake Tahoe in Search of Tessie 2021), now with Memphremagog completed in Search of Memphre, she has her eyes set on Loch Ness in 2025 to search for Nessie and complete the Triple Crown of Lake Monster Swims. 

She started marathon swimming just 10 years ago, in order to lose weight and improve her health. As she puts it, she didn’t lose weight but did improve her health and was bitten by a love of long-distance swimming. For most of the way, she swam with joy and a love of the swim. But the last three miles you could see her dig deep with determination as Marcela encouraged her on. “Vamos!” She would shout again and again. And that she did. She left a part of her spirit in Memphremagog, and she took a bit of Memphre with her when she walked to the beach in Magog.

Joe Infantino’s record breaking swim was the longest swim of his life. A competitive pool swimmer in high school and club swimmer in college, Joe has been swimming mid-distance marathon swims for a number of years. He swam the Great 10 Mile Race at Kingdom Swim in 2021 and then the 25 km Border Buster at Kingdom Swim in 2022. There he raced head-to-head against Stephen Rouch. Rouch won the hand carved walking stick with a time of 7.29.58. But Joe came in just 5 minutes behind him.

This Search had a “grudge match” aspect to it. Joe was intent on beating Stephen’s Memphre time during the first leg of his double cross - 11:40 in 2019. But, by the time Joe sped past Georgeville with 15 miles down and 10 miles to go, it became clear he had a shot at Dammerman’s amateur record of 11:27. Joe’s team urged him on, simply saying that he had a chance for a very good time. Not until the last three miles did they tell Joe he had a shot at beating the amateur record. He picked up his pace and hammered home his record-breaking swim.

Bernie Abbot, is totally fresh to long distance swimming. Prior to last year his longest open water swim was a mile -and-a-half. He told me that for his 30^th birthday he had set himself a goal of swimming the 25-mile length of our lake. I told him that I’d never heard of anyone ramping up their distance that fast and that the risk of injuring his shoulders was high. But, we came up with a plan. Swimming increasing distances in each of our Saturday Clubhous swims in June and July and then trying Border Buster at Kingdom Swim at the end of July. He did that in grand fashion, finishing the 15-mile triple cross of Lake Willoughby (at the re-venued Kingdom Swim0 in 5^th place with a time of 7.42.37. We schedule him to join the Search last September, but a work conflict arose and he had to defer to this year.  

This year, he was clearly physically ready for the Search having won among the men at the NEKOWSA Champion of Champions with a time of 6:09:03 for a total of 12 miles. But deep in the night, the demons of doubt began to swirl his head and he pulled. Later we talked about throwing his mind into the fire and coming to peace with a swim. He’s still young and fresh to the sport. We see a wonderful world of open water swimming open to Bernie, regardless of the distances he chooses to take on in the future.

The swims by Joe and Cynthia were conducted in full compliance with traditional channel crossing rules as published by Marathon Swimmers Federation. Each of these swims has been ratified by the Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.

For some photos see The Search 2024 - Window III

Robert Roberge, Gary Coburn, Donna Dauphinais, Vera Rivard, and Margaret Rivard are part of the expanded corps of Memphre Boat Pilots, which is made possible by a VOREC grant obtained by Newport Downtown Development. They are all experienced in boating, but are now trained and experienced as escort boat pilots to allow us to expand and strengthen In Search of Memphre.

This year marks a return to the use of the Newport City Dock and Boat Ramp for the start of the swim. This was made possible with the support and approval of Mayor Linda Joy Sullivan, City Manager, Jonathan DeLaBruere, the Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, Mike Brown, and the Newport City Council.

Special thanks to the Canadian Border Services Agency and US Customs and Border Patrol for facilitating our crossing into Canada and returning back to the US. Without their support, these international swims would not be possible

In Search of Memphre is held with the support of Barbara Malloy, Vermont’s First Lady Dracontologist, who has documented over 170 sightings of Memphre going back to 1816.

Evan Morrison, of Marathon Swimmers Federation, provided Spot Tracker Services for these swims.

The following day, we signed one of Joe's and Cynthia's nameplates and tacked the others to the wall of The Clubhous Garage. Later that afternoon, they recorded their swims on the ceiling above the bar at Jasper’s Tavern in downtown Newport.

Joe and Cynthia are the 4th and 5th completions of the 2024 season, with 9 more swimmers making the attempt in August, and September.

Kingdom Games now hosts over 50 days of swimming, running, and biking events in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and the Eastern Townships of Quebec. They are highly acclaimed, recreational athletic endurance events, challenging to the very best, with options that make them accessible for all, newcomers and seasoned veterans, young and old alike. They are held in venues that showcase the very best of the Northeast Kingdom, its four seasons, its wide open “vista riddled” roads, its legendary lakes, and its working agricultural landscape.

Over the past decade, Kingdom Games has drawn thousands of participants, kayakers, volunteers, friends and family from over 45 states and 4 Canadian provinces as well as Mexico, Argentina, Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Latvia, Finland, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. 

They have been made possible by a host of sponsors, partners, friends, and volunteers who support the mission of The Games to help make the Northeast Kingdom a mecca for these sporting communities of swimmers, runners, and cyclists.

Kingdom Games is a small business that pays taxes and, based on the principles of Newman’s Own, dedicates all net profits to local charities, organizations, and good causes. Over the past 9 years this has totaled over $65,000. We purchase all products and services from local businesses, whenever possible.