by Jessica Kieras
After beginning swimming just three years ago, Lee Kaplan became the first known person to complete the 10 km (6 mile) route on Lake Mephremagog, between Ile Ronde, Quebec and Bluffs, Vermont. Her story is a testament to what can happen when you are patient with yourself, persistent, put in the work and are surrounded by a supportive community. She completed the swim in a time of (6:10.35), pending MSF ratification. Drawn to marathon swimming because of her lifelong love of water sports, Lee has found herself at home in a vibrant community of like minded swimmers who frequent the shores of the northeastern United States.
Lee was supported by coach, Charlotte Brynn, Jeff Brynn and Robbin Hepburn. She first met Charlotte in 2021 after she was introduced by marathon swimmer, Natalie Lang, who she met at CrossFit. Through private lessons with Charlotte, she began to gradually and incrementally improve her stroke. “When I started that summer, I could not swim 100 yards without stopping and being winded.” But through persistence, hard work and expert coaching, she began to improve. “Charlotte is an amazing coach. It has been her life passion, swimming,” she said. “We don’t work on everything all at once.” She hired Charlotte full time in 2023 after a couple DNF experiences on days where wind conditions were very uncooperative.
At the same time, she became involved with the winter swim community through Adina O’Neil, who took her to her first swim with The Crusty Barnacles in Nantasket, in 2021. “I thought I was going to die getting my toes in,” she told me. Three years later, she completed an Ice Mile. And by the following summer, she was ready to give Marathon swimming another try.
Lake Mephremagog: Ile Ronde, Quebec to Bluffs, Vermont
The day of the swim, the water was “perfectly flat” with water temperatures between 64 and 67 Fahrenheit. The team motored across the Canadian border, obtained the necessary permissions and landed at the small island. “I loved that I got to be part of deciding where we were going to launch from,” Lee wrote. “I decided that there was this perfect ledge with a flat rock that I could conceivably get out of the water on.” The special thing about being the first to complete a new route is that you get to set the precedent for future swimmers. Now, “Lee’s Rock,” as Charlotte Brynn refers to it, is a part of Marathon Swimming history. “I know I will never be the fastest, but it’s fun to be the first,” Lee told me later on.
Despite some nausea, an upwelling of cold water, and some calf cramping, Lee powered through the swim, crossing the border from Canada into the United States and onward to land at Bluffs. She had a surprise visit from the Margaret and Vera Rivard, along with Gloria and Phil White mid swim, as they cheered for her from their pontoon boat.
“In my last 700 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 swim. This was a mile round trip. I felt the significance of now finishing my first marathon swim,” Lee wrote in her swim documentation. “I was finally a marathon swimmer.”
I talked with Lee’s coach, Charlotte Brynn. This year she and her husband launched their piloting and swim support service, “Swim-with-Brynn”, which provides support for 6 to 25 mile swims on Lake Mephremagog. Lee’s swim was the first of what will undoubtedly be many memorable adventures supported by her team.
She noted that Lee’s journey is significant and important to the community. “It’s a very important trail that she’s blazed and is creating,” she said. “We need to acknowledge what a big deal these swims are and open up access to make people eligible. Everybody’s worthy.” She went on to point out that there are people who see what Lee has done and feel inspired to think that maybe they could also do something like it.
Lee has already begun to give back to the community by volunteering as an “angel swimmer”, enjoying helping new swimmers feel more comfortable in open water. Charlotte coached one swimmer who Lee helped complete her first open water swim. The swimmer said she would not have finished the swim had it not been for Lee’s encouraging words and presence helping her reach her goal.
“We should be making a difference in the lives of others and help grow the sport,” said Charlotte. “She’s naturally inspired others, she doesn’t even know she’s done it. It’s just natural.” She went on the point out, “we all have a responsibility to be stewards of open water, of swimming, creating opportunities for others to flourish, grow and excel. If you want to have real joy in the sport, it’s about helping and supporting others first.”
