Courtesy of Phil White, NEKOWSA.

Vera Rivard is a 14-year-old American open water swimmer from New Hampshire.

Her exploits this year were bookmarked between a winter swim in February and a marathon swim in July.

In February, she participated in 6 races during the Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival in Lake Memphremagog, Vermont when the water temperature was 30.8°F and and in the 20°F’s on Day Two:

* She finished 7th in the 25m freestyle in 17.14
* She finished 3rd in the 50m freestyle in 38.19
* She finished 5th in the 100m freestyle in 1.25.44
* She finished 3rd in the 200m freestyle in 3.01.27
* She finished 9th in the 25m butterfly in 20.63
* She finished 6th in the 25m breaststroke in 24.29

In July, she was one of only two finishers of the 40.2 km In Search of Memphre across the same lake in 16 hours 24 minutes.

Her successes were built upon a carefully and patiently developed open water swimming career since the age of 10:

2014 Swims (10 years old):
* She received the NEKOWSA Open Water Swimmer of the Year Award, sharing it with Andrew Hyde.
* She completed the 1-mile course at the Kingdom Swim in Lake Memphremagog.
* She completed the 3-mile event at Caspian Lake, Vermont.

2015 Swims (11 years old):
* She completed the 4-mile course at Son of a Swim in Lake Memphremagog in 2 hours 31 minutes.
* She completed the 5-mile Lake Willoughby Swim in Vermont in 2 hours 24 minutes.
* She completed the 6-mile Kingdom Swim in Lake Memphremagog in 2 hours 53 minutes.
* She completed the 3-mile race in Caspian Lake in 1 hour 22 minutes.

2016 Swims (12 years old):
* She finished 19th in the 16.1 km Kingdom Swim in Lake Memphremagog in 5 hours 4 minutes.
* She finished 2nd in the 5-mile Lake Willoughby Swim in 2 hours 7 minutes.
* She completed the 3-mile race in Caspian Lake in 1 hour 25 minutes.
* She completed the 9-mile Massawippi Swim in Lake Memphremagog in 5 hours 4 minutes.
* She completed the 4-mile Crystal Swim in Lake Memphremagog.
* She completed the 4-mile Island Pond Swim in Lake Memphremagog.
* She completed the 3.5-mile Seymour Swim in Vermont.
* She completed the 2-mile Echo Lake Swim in Maine.
* She completed the Clubhous swim in Lake Memphremagog.
* She completed the 6-mile Son of a Swim in 2 hours 51 minutes.

2017 Swims (13 years old):
* She finished 5th overall in the 25 km Border Buster cross-border swim in Lake Memphremagog in 7 hours 15 minutes.
* She completed the 6-mile Son of a Swim in 2 hours 45 minutes.
* She won the 16.1 km Lake Willoughby Swim in 5 hours 5 minutes.
* She completed the 5-mile Lake Willoughby Swim in 2 hours 21 minutes.
* She completed the 3-mile race in Caspian Lake in Vermont in 1 hour 22 minutes.
* She won the 5th annual 9-mile (14.4 km) marathon swim in Massawippi Swim in Lake Memphremagog in 4 hours 10 minutes.
* She completed the 4-mile Crystal Swim in Lake Memphremagog.
* She completed the 4-mile Island Pond Swim in Lake Memphremagog.
* She completed the 3.5-mile Seymour Swim in Vermont.
* She completed the 2-mile Echo Lake Swim in Maine.
* She completed the Clubhous swim in Lake Memphremagog.
* She won the 10 km Swim With A Mission in Newfound Lake, New Hampshire.

2018 Swims (14 years old):
* She participated in the Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival in Lake Memphremagog, Vermont.
* She finished 2nd in the 40.2 km In Search of Memphre across Lake Memphremagog from Vermont, USA to Quebec, Canada in 16 hours 24 minutes.

What will the future hold for this prolific open water swimmer?

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