It was a beautiful day with nearly perfect conditions on Day One on Saguaro Lake with a cool water start, warming up by mid-lake, low winds, protective cloud cover, and overall tranquil conditions.

Day Two on Canyon Lake featured a colder start with 11°C (54°F) water temperatures, but the water quickly turned water as occasional wind gusts made progress difficult at times.

But Day Three across Apache Lake was a true test of physicality, grit, and mental strength with wind gusts churning up the waters up to 37 knots.

Day Four on Roosevelt Lake was much more calm, but finished in the dark where 21 of the swimmers ultimately completing all four stage swims of the SCAR Swim Challenge in Arizona. 30 other swimmers from ages 15 to 70 finished one, two, or three crossings.

It was a sweet victory for 30-year-old Nikko Price and 15-year-old up-and-coming marathon swimming phenom Lorelie Schmidt who took home the famed SCAR Buckles, given to the fastest overall male and female swimmers. Price had a battle on his hands on the last day where only a minute separated him and second-place Jay Eckert. Price squeaked out the closest victory in the history of the event. Price and Eckert were only separated by 3 minutes 45 seconds after over 15 hours of swimming.

The mano-a-mano duel between Price and Eckert was exciting throughout the four-day stage swim:

• Saguaro: Price in 3 hours 10 minutes versus Eckert in 3 hours 13 minutes
• Canyon: Price in 3 hours 19 minutes versus Eckert in 3 hours 23 minutes
• Apache: Price in 6 hours 22 minutes versus Eckert in 6 hours 16 minutes
• Roosevelt: Price in 2 hours 26 minutes versus Eckert in 2 hours 28 minutes

David McGlynn, a 47-year-old representing the Wisconsin Masters Aquatic Club, was solid throughout, finishing third in each of the four lakes:

• Saguaro in 3 hours 20 minutes
• Canyon in 3 hours 37 minutes
• Apache: 6 hours 34 minutes
• Roosevelt: 2 hours 30 minutes

On the women’s side, young 15-year-old Lorelei Schmidt held off 35-year-old Taylor Stallings-Pinnick from Florida to take the 2024 SCAR crown:

• Saguaro: Schmidt in 3 hours 23 minutes versus Stallings-Pinnick in 3 hours 28 minutes
• Canyon: Schmidt in 3 hours 41 minutes versus Stallings-Pinnick in 3 hours 42 minutes
• Apache: Schmidt in 7 hours 7 minutes versus Stallings-Pinnick in 7 hours 16 minutes
• Roosevelt: Schmidt in 2 hours 42 minutes versus Stallings-Pinnick in 2 hours 46 minutes

Schmidt is from Raleigh, North Carolina and has been gradually increasing her open water range and distances from the 2.5 km and 5 km Las Vegas Champions Cup Open Water in Nevada and the 4.4-mile Great Chesapeake Bay Swim to the widthwise crossings of Lake Tahoe widthwise crossings of 17.1 km and 19.2 km in California and the 21 km Swim Around Charleston in South Carolina before she tackled the 60 km of SCAR.

SCAR Swim 4-Stage Finishers

1. Nikko Price, Florida 15:18:28.0
2. Jay Eckert, Florida 15:22:13.6
3. David McGlynn, Wisconsin 16:03:39.4
4. Steve Leitch, South Carolina 16:47:58.2
5. Lorelei Schmidt, North Carolina 16:54:41.2
6. Taylor Stallings-Pinnick, Florida 17:13:59.3
7. James McDonald, California 17:20:15.3
8. Emily Lane, Colorado 18:02:07.4
9. Erica S. Esterly, Arizona 18:07:04.7
10. Allison Crush, Tennessee 18:10:11.0
11. Malena Hankins, Georgia 18:42:16.4
12. Grabiela Rojas Molina, Venezuela 19:15:12.7
13. Eric Kinney, California 19:27:48.9
14. Mary Singer, Washington 19:55:44.9
15. Sara Stevenson, South Carolina 20:20:46.2
16. Lars Durban, Washington 20:37:25.5
17. Eric Durban, Washington 20:37:30.3
18. Erica Gliebe, California 21:18:56.8
19. Antonio Argüelles, Mexico 22:00:20.1
20. Carol Wortman, Maryland 23:13:40.9
21. Mackenzie Thomas 23:59:51.8 [wetsuit]
22. Marnie Whitley, Arizona 24:50:37.5

2024 Swimmer List:

1. Allison Crush
2. Andrew Wallace – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2022 SCAR veteran
3. Antonio Argüelles – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – Oceans Seven swimmer and Triple Crown veteran
4. Bradley Lundblad – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2023 SCAR veteran
5. Carol Wortman – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
6. Cecelia Wigal – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
7. Dana Price – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2022 SCAR veteran
8. David McGlynn
9. Edie Markovich – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2021 SCAR veteran
10. Emily Lane – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
11. Eric Durban – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2022 SCAR veteran
12. Eric Kinney
13. Erica Esterly – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
14. Erika Gliebe
15. Gina Harden – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2021 SCAR veteran
16. Grabiela Rojas Molina
17. Heather Fairbanks – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
18. James McDonald – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
19. Jamie Tout – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2016, 2018, 2021 SCAR veteran
20. Janelle Westfall
21. Janet Craig – 2023 SCR veteran
22. Jay Eckert
23. Jennifer Dutton – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2019, 2023 SCAR veteran
24. Jennifer Irwin
25. Jennifer Murphy
26. Jennifer Whitlock – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
27. John Collins
28. Julia Ver Voort
29. Kerston Corns
30. Kristiana E Fox – 2023 SCAR veteran
31. Lars Durban – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2022 SCAR veteran
32. Laura Ruberto
33. Lorelei Schmidt – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
34. Mackenzie Thomas
35. Madison Carioty
36. Malena Hankins – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
37. Marnie Whitley – 2021, 2022 SCAR veteran
38. Mary Singer – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
39. Marysue Balazic – 2023 SCAR veteran
40. Melissa Housmyer – 2023 SCAR veteran
41. Michelle Squyer – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2019 and 2020 SCAR veteran
42. Mike Gregory – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – Triple Crown veteran
43. Mike Healey – 2022, 2023 SCAR veteran
44. Nikko Price – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
45. Paul Valitutto – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
46. Peter Hayden – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 SCAR veteran
47. Rob Forst – 2022, 2023 SCAR veteran
48. Robin Batchelor – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
49. Sara Stevenson
50. Sara Wolf – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
51. Shelley Stewart – see MSF marathon swimming resume here
52. Sophia Bouhaddou
53. Stefan Reinke – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023 SCAR vetera
54. Steven Sherry – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2023 SCAR veteran
55. Taylor Stallings-Pinnick – 2023 SCAR veteran
56. Terri Dietz
57. Tom Linthicum – see MSF marathon swimming resume here – 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021 SCAR veteran
58. William Polson
59. Steve Moby Leitch – see MSF marathon swimming resume here

For more information, visit www.scarswim.com. For additional photos and information, visit Facebook here.

MSF = Marathon Swimmers Federation (see here).

A special shout-out goes to escort kayaker Gigi Burns who stepped up and paddled all four lakes for winner Nikko Price on short notice.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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