Ben Bryant Swimming Strong past Georgeville

Sandra Tooley of Colorado and Ben Bryant of Maine

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In the early morning hours of July 13th, 2026, Sandra Tooley, 47, of Superior, Colorado and Ben Bryant, 67, of Brunswick, Maine embarked In Search of Memphre, a 25-mile international swim between Newport, Vermont and Magog, Quebec.

At 12:01 am Sandra entered the waters of Lake Memphremagog at the Newport City Dock and Boat Ramp. After swimming 25 miles, she exited the water at 2:49 pm on the beach of Magog Park, for an elapsed time of 14 hours and 48 minutes. 

In doing so, she became the 76th amateur Swimmer Scout to complete the Search. See Finishers and Times.

She has completed a 22-mile crossing, the length of Lake Tahoe. The Search was the longest non-current assisted swim of her life. She has her eyes set on Loch Ness in 2027 to complete the Triple Crown of Lake Monster Swims.

Her swim was supported by Kingdom Games. She was escorted by pontoon boat, Chasin’ Dreams, piloted by Kit Kinne of Newport Center and co-piloted by Karina Palmorino of Magog. She was crewed by her daughter, Sofia Tooley and her husband, Thomas Niyri. Her coach is Sarah Thomas.

We swam on the first day of our Window. As a result, Sandra and her family had a chance to visit Bread and Puppet Theater and explore other bits of The Kingdom while they were here.

Sandra Tooley at the start

Clearing the water in Magog

On her way to a strong finish

At 67, Ben is no spring chicken. Inspiring, what he did.

At 12:10 am Ben Bryant, 67, of Brunswick, ME, entered the water just behind Sandra. After swimming 24.7 miles, Ben was pulled from the water after he had lapsed momentarily into unconsciousness. He had passed the Red Can and the beach was close at hand, but he was still in deep water and at high risk of going down when he was pulled. 

Ben’s first attempt at the Search in 2024 ended halfway, when he was overcome by the cold. When he decided to launch another attempt, he retained Charlotte Brynn as his coach and Elaine Kornbau Howley as one of his crew members and buddy swimmers.

His swim was supported by Kingdom Games. He was escorted by pontoon boat, Lucky, piloted by Vera Rivard and co-piloted by Phil White. He was crewed by his wife, Melissa Bryant, his friend, Bill Goodrich of Bath, ME, and Elaine Kornbau Howley. Bill is a lifeguard at the YMCA in Bath and a retired EMT. Vera has completed her course work to become an EMT and has been piloting our boats for several years now. As a young woman, Elaine was an ocean lifeguard and has started a crewing/support business to help swimmers complete crossings. 

During the softness of the night, I was listening to Ben swimming beside Lucky with a gentle tailwind. I was thinking that I'd never heard a more delicious sounding swim in my life. Ben's stroke rate remained absolutely constant throughout his swim, until the last four miles.

Elaine Kornbau Howley brings her support to Ben's swim

Elaine started Buddy Swimming with Ben around mile 21 when he started encountering difficulty swimming uninterrupted between feeds.  After an hour, she stayed on as a safety swimmer to be in his face as he struggled to finish. I’ve witnessed a lot of battles in the open water, some right at the start, some mid way, and some at the very end while closing in on the finish. Ben is 67. His effort to finish was dogged, intense, and determined. It was inspiring. He was within fifteen hundred feet of the finish. But, he slipped into unconsciousness momentarily at mile 24.7 after being in the water 17 hours and 43 minutes.  Elaine was right there to grab him, swim him to the ladder, and push him up to Vera’s receiving grip, pulling him on board. I have to say, Ben was lucky to be surrounded by strong women with mighty guns.

Magog EMTs were called, they met us right at the beach and transported Ben to the local hospital. He was transferred to the hospital in Sherbrooke and was released after a couple of days. He is just about fully recovered.

Both swims were conducted in full compliance with traditional channel crossing rules as adopted by Marathon Swimmers Federation and NEKOWSA. Sandra’s swim has been ratified as a successful crossing In Search of Memphre. Ben’s swim has been certified by NEKOWSA as a 24.7 mile swim. 

Ben heading out at Newport City Dock

Following the swim, we celebrated Sandra's success by signing one of her nameplates, tacking the other one to the Clubhous Garage Wall, having breakfast at The Brown Cow, and signing the ceiling above the bar at Jasper's Tavern. Ben was invited to sign the ceiling for his most inspiring 24.7 mile swim. During the Swimmer Scouts Reunion, he did so.       

Ben signing the ceiling for his 24.7 mile swim. - Photo by Kathleene Marcil

In Search of Memphre is conducted with the full support of Barbara Malloy, Vermont's First Lady Dracontologist. For more information about our swimmer friendly and elusive lake creature see Something About Memphre.

"Come on and wade way out into the water with [us]. We're Drowning on Dry Land"

Scallywag by Gaelic Storm

Tito on the jump at The Clubhous - Photo by Kathleene Marcil