Lee Kaplan - Île Ronde to Newport Bluffs

Île Ronde to Newport Bluffs

10.45 km (6.5 miles)

6 hours, 10 minutes on 16 June 2024

Observed and documented by Charlotte Brynn

Swimmer
Support Personnel
Swim Parameters
Swim Data & GPS
Observer Log
Swimmer Statement
Photos
Video

Swimmer

Name: Lee Kaplan
Gender: female
Age on swim date: 47
Nationality: United States
Resides: Dedham, Massachusetts

Support Personnel

Jeff Brynn - pilot
Robbin Hepburn - crew

Observer

Charlotte Brynn

Escort Vessel

Name	Type	Port
Silver Fern	24ft pontoon boat	Newport, VT

Swim Parameters

Category: Solo, nonstop, unassisted.
Rules: MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, without exception or modification.
Equipment used: Textile swimsuit (Sporti one-piece), cap, goggles.

Route Definition

Body of Water: Lake Memphremagog
Route Type: one-way
Start Location: Île Ronde, Quebec, Canada (45.0437185, -72.27018419)
Finish Location: The Bluffs, Newport, Vermont (44.959715, -72.210536)
Minimum Route Distance: 10.45 km (6.5 miles) (map)

Ile Ronde

History

In 2016, Charlotte Brynn completed a 26.15km route from Newport, around Île Ronde, and returning to Newport - see MSF documentation.

Other MSF-ratified Documented Swims in Lake Memphremagog - see here.

Full historical results of Lake Memphremagog full length swims and other miscallaneous routes - see here.

Swim Data

Start: 16 June 2024, 08:35:25 (Eastern Daylight Time, America/New_York, UTC-4).
Finish: 16 June 2024, 14:46:00
Elapsed: 6 hours, 10 minutes, 35 seconds.

Summary of Conditions

Feature	Min	Max
Water Temp (F)	64	67
Air Temp (F)	58	69
Wind (mph)	1	4

GPS Track

Trackpoint frequency: 10 minutes. Download raw data (CSV).

Click to expand map.

Speed Plot

Nutrition: See observer log.

Observer Log

Swimmer Statement

by Lee Kaplan

1st documented swim from Ile Ronde Quebec CA to the Bluffs Newport VT USA This was a very special swim at it held a trio of firsts. This was my first official marathon swim, the first documented swim from the island of Ile Rond to the Bluffs and the first solo swim offered by Swim with Brynn.

After a disappointing season for me last year comprising of high winds and two DNFs, I was chatting to my coach, mentor and friend Charlotte Brynn about the plan for this season. I needed an early season win. Charlotte told me about her new venture she was planning with the hubs Jeff Brynn (and pilot extraordinaire) and asked if I wanted to attempt to swim from the magical extroverted introvert island of Ile Rond back to the Bluffs. So, after discussing a few details, we agreed “lets do it!” a plan was hatched.

After training for a full year 5 days a week and seeing gains in my swims, I was ready. Charlotte suggested we do a window and choose the best day. It was a practical low-pressure option. We chose the weekend of the 15th of June to execute. I was so lucky and blessed to round out my support crew with Charlotte’s big sis Robbin Hepburn to crew for me. Glad we chose the window because the Saturday was grizzly, and I was thankful to get a perfectly flat day on Sunday in contrast. I must be able to know that my crew has a vested interest in keeping me safe and it made the swim easy knowing that there was a team on the boat that I 1000% trusted. After all, Charlotte was also my observer for my ice km this past winter.

Saturday was spent taking in the sights of the town of Magog in Canada- a cute lakeside town that swells in the summer with holiday makers. It was a cute town and, along with watching Caroline Block start her search, planted the seed for a bucket list swim….

After munching some cheese bought at the abbey and spending the night chatting and going over logistics, safety and rules (it was my first swim after all) for the swim, an early night was had by all (the epic loss of the Celtics in game 4 of the NBA finals hasted that….) I had the best sign made for me by Charlotte and it brought me joy seeing it throughout my swim.

I set my alarm for 6am on Sunday morning. The swim was starting at 8am and we planned to swim from Ile Rond as there was no wind difference. I woke up at 5:30am ish. Ugh. Damn body clock. Turns out I was the last one up. The Silver Fern, support pontoon boat was getting her food while I had my toast and peanut butter. I also packed my nutrition- Skratch lab electrolytes, sour cherry sktatch lab chews and UCAN gels- strawberry banana and pineapple. I also packed some ginger ale, coconut water, Zofran and Motrin- better to be over prepared… Robbin made the crew some sandwiches and grabbed the ever present Cape Cod chips in the Brynn household and nuts. After our Silver Fern was prepped, we packed the boat and motored off.

It was chilly heading towards the Canadian border. Charlotte had gone into town to get cell service to call the Canadian Border Patrol to make sure we crossed legally. They told her she needed to call again once we landed within Canadian waters . She complied with this instruction… and once we entered Canadian waters, she was on the phone with authorities declaring our entry and relaying our passport details along with the specs of Silver Fern, and Captain Jeff Brynn. I stopped listening at some point while birthdays and passport numbers and expiration dates were read out as I was starting to prepare by having Robbin slather me in Destin and Chammie Butter.

Finally, we were all set to head to this cute little island. I loved that I got to be part of deciding where we were going to launch from. Somewhere on the southern edge was the plan. I decided that there was this perfect ledge with a flat rock that I could conceivably get out of the water on. Without much ado, I climbed down the stairs at the back of the boat and swum to my start spot. I did grab a small rock from the island as a memento and shoved it in my suit.

I heard the airhorn and I was officially off. The plan was first feed after an hour and then every 45 minutes after that. The swim started well. I spent most my time focusing on form. Long and strong and trying for a low head position. I only breathe right so I only looked at the boat. I had the best crew- they send hearts, thumbs up and dancing throughout my swim. I loved watching Charlotte check the air temp and wind speed, it reminded me of ET and made me giggle. It made me feel supported. First feed comes and I wanted to know how far from the border. For some reason I thought Ile Rond was closer to the border, so I was a bit thrown that breakfast was in Canada. I had 3 feeds (I think) in Canada. I knew I had crossed the boarder when I saw the flood of photos on the boat with me passing the parting of the trees- the only sign that you’ve crossed an international border.

I was pretty quiet throughout the swim. My mind was mostly blank. I asked for more Motrin at the second feed and got it in the third as my right shoulder was starting to wail- probably due to me lifting my head through the swim. After my third feed, I started to feel a bit nauseous. I think I tried to get in too much liquid, and it didn’t get down properly. Charlotte knew what I needed before I did. She gave me some ginger ale at the next feed and coconut water after that one. I also started cramping in my calves- probably should have hydrated better on Saturday…. At some point, I saw Charlotte wave to someone. I took a tentative breath to my left and saw the Rivard sisters and Phil and Gloria on two pontoon boats coming to say hi and wave and cheer. That was really special. I was hesitant to post my tracker because my 10k is a training swim to some but it was my first marathon swim, so I wanted to share it with those that wanted to follow me.

After the pontoon boats, I started swimming through some cold patches- probably due to boat traffic churning up the cold water. I wanted to stop at one patch because it was so bloody cold and I told myself that I needed to suck it up- I had done and ice mile so relatively, it wasn’t that cold. By this time, I was completely disorientated. I didn’t even try and sight because it seemed like we were just in the middle of the lake. It was only when I was told I was on my last feed that I just put it all in the water and motored in. In my last 700ish meters, I was overcome with emotion. I just told myself I can’t cry because it would throw my breathing off. I was thinking of two summers ago when I attended my first clinic with Charlotte and we were swimming to Horseneck island and Margaret Rivard was my escort paddler. We stopped often and I almost gave up because I just couldn’t just swim. This was a mile round trip. I felt the significance of now finishing my first marathon swim. I swam all the way and only stopped for feeds. Granted, it was slower than I was hoping for, but the joy of the solo experience is that there was no time limit and I got to swim my swim. I finally reached the Bluffs and had neighbors watching and cheering me on. I clambered up to a rock and I heard the air horn again. I was finally a marathon swimmer. I also spent some time during this swim wondering what was next. What is my next goal swim-wise. I decided during this swim to postpone my BLS attempt because I don’t want to set myself up for failure. I need to learn to enjoy this process of learning to marathon swim. I am so thankful to have had the best of the best in the boat and look forward to a lifetime of more…

These part three years have been so inspiring. I’ve learned to push my mind- the biggest obstacle in our lives. I have met amazing humans and total badass swimmers. This was my first marathon swim- I’m hooked.