By Patrick Adrian
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SPRINGFIELD, N.H. — This summer, Vera Rivard, of Springfield, will try to raise her bar to accomplish something she has trained exhaustively for but has never attempted: to swim the English Channel.
At 16, open-water swimming phenom Vera Rivard is no stranger to long-distance challenges. Since the age of 10, Rivard has crossed lakes across northern New England, averaging roughly four to six miles per swim. Just last year, Rivard finished second in a 40-kilometer swim meet across Lake Memphremagog, which spans the Canadian border from Vermont to Quebec, Canada, in a time of 16 hours and 24 minutes.
When people ask her why she wants to tackle this challenge, Rivard said that her only answer is because she loves open-water swimming.
“I feel it is what I am meant to do,” Rivard said in a recent press release. “I feel completely ‘me’ when I am in the open water.”
Rivard, who was Vermont Sports Magazine’s Athlete of the Year in 2019, acknowledged that swimming the English Channel is part of her broader ambition to swim the Open Water Triple Crown over the next two years. The Triple Crown is a marathon swimming challenge consisting of three swims: the 21-mile English Channel; the 20-mile Catalina Channel; and the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, a roughly 29-mile circumnavigation of Manhattan Island, New York City.
To date, only 239 swimmers have earned this distinction, according to the Marathon Swimmers database.
“My mom is always saying, ‘When something gets hard or we have to struggle with something, that we are building character,’” Rivard said. “I dare say, I have been working on being very full of ‘character.’ I have pushed myself in ways I had no idea I could and have had success.”
Traversing the English Channel poses many challenges, according to the Channel Swimming Association. Though the official swim distance is 21 miles, the need to circumvent tidal currents often makes the swim longer. Each swimmer is typically accompanied by an escort in a boat who helps protect the swimmer from passing ships and pass food to the swimmer via a long pole.
Rivard said that her 2018 swim across Lake Memphremagog provided an invaluable test and lesson in determination, while also being the youngest swimmer to complete the swim in the event’s history. She also faced headwinds of 10-20 mph during the first 15 miles of the race, according to the press release.
The swim across the English Channel is not exactly cheap, according to the Channel Swimming Association. The registration fee is about $425 and a swimmer needs another $4,000 to hire an official boat pilot and escort to accompany one’s swim. When calculating total expenses, including travel, Rivard expects to need $12,000 to fund her attempt.
Rivard has received sponsorship from the Upper Valley Aquatic Center, in Hartford, Vermont; Allen Pools & Spas, in Lebanon; and TYR Swimwear, in Quebec, Canada. Rivard also has a donation site called Team Rivard Swimming at https://fundly.com/team-rivard-swimming for people to contribute to her fundraising campaign.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, Rivard will promote her swim campaign at the Allen Pools & Spas showroom in Lebanon, New Hampshire, where she will swim in place for two hours non-stop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. using advanced technology.
Rivard’s 12-year-old sister, Margaret, and her mother, Darcie, will be present to answer questions about the English Channel swim attempt. They will also be selling hand-knit hats for a suggested donation of $20. All proceeds will go to Rivard’s fundraising campaign.
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