NEWPORT, The Marathon Swimmers Federation has awarded Phil White its 2019-2020 Service to Marathon Swimming Award, honoring his decade of work building open-water swimming events in the Northeast Kingdom.
White is the founder of Kingdom Swim, In Search of Memphre, Swim the Kingdom week, the Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival, and the Northeast Kingdom Open Water Swimming Association. He started with the 10-mile Kingdom Swim in 2009 and expanded to a year-round program under the Kingdom Games banner. By 2019, those games included 171 swimmers in 16 marathon swims, part of 30 days of events involving more than 1,500 athletes.
He also piloted and crewed on solo swims, including Sarah Thomas’ world-record 104-mile crossing of Lake Champlain.
“In his ambitious vision to create world-class open-water swimming opportunities in an improbable, landlocked location, Phil stands among the most powerful and consistent contributors to the sport over the past 10 years,” said Evan Morrison, a federation representative. “To paraphrase a famous movie line: He built it, and they came.”
White said he is honored and humbled. “More so, because it recognizes that the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont has truly become an unlikely mecca for open water swimmers from around North America and around the world,” he said. “Even more so, because this evolution has only been possible with the robust help of so many friends, volunteers, local businesses, sponsors, partners, cities, and towns.”
Originally reported by Newport Dispatch.
Photo: Mick Haupt via Unsplash. Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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