Race director Kent Nicholas (58, USA, MSF bio here) explained the conditions of the 15th edition of today’s Apache Lake 22.8 km crossing, “We got off to an early start with all waves in the water by 7:45 am. We started with 33 swimmers and finished with 31 – an excellent finishing percentage for Apache. Wind stayed quiet until about 11:20 and then there were gusts up to 14 mph for about 2 hours. As evening settled in, the wind laid down, swimmers finished and there were smiles on the boats back to the marina.

Apache is a swim that can be your worst enemy. But today was a green light day. Little push from Roosevelt Dam, the water was relatively warm and glassy until 11:20. Then 2 hours of headwind gusts reminded swimmers this lake has fangs and can bite your ass. Finishing 31 out of 33 swimmers is a what we call a good day in the open water game.”

Leading the way for the third day in a row was Chris Cook (45, UK, 45, MSF bio here) who finished in 6 hours 7 minutes. He was followed by 28-year-old Isabella Johnson and 43-year-old Jessica Deckard, with veteran Christopher Allshouse (55, USA, MSF bio here) in fourth. With that fast Apache crossing, Johnson moved into the SCAR lead among women for the SCAR Buckle, albeit she currently holds less than an 8-minute lead over Albie Ashbrook and a 12-minute lead over Linda Clarke (51, Ireland, MSF bio here) going into the final day tomorrow night in Roosevelt Lake.

Linda Clarke

Clarke was recently inducted in the Ireland Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame at the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association annual awards, 35 years after her first open water season in 1991 and 17 years after her first marathon swim in 2009. She was also awarded the ILDSA Female Swimmer of the Year for her marathon swims across False Bay in South Africa, in Batalle de Rande in Spain, and the Catalina Channel in California where she completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.

2026 SCAR Apache Lake Results

1. Chris Cook, United Kingdom, 45, 6:07:39.8
2. Isabella Johnson, California, USA, 28, 6:48:13.2
3. Jessica Deckard, Colorado, USA, 43, 6:56:55.9
4. Christopher Allshouse, Ohio, USA, 55, 6:58:42.9
5. Marcus Ramirez, Arizona, USA, 33, 7:06:40.5
6. Valerie Bates, Tennessee, USA, 24, 7:15:31.3
7. Manon Francois, France, 31, 7:17:10.1
8. Albie Ashbrook, New Jersey, USA, 56, 7:20:21.7
9. Christopher Calby, Connecticut, USA, 35, 7:22:34.4
10. Linda Clarke, Ireland, 51, 7:31:15.6
11. Stephen Robinson, United Kingdom, 51, 7:31:48.3
12. Philip Kilmartin, Ireland, 59, 7:45:42.0
13. Amy Meskill, Connecticut, USA, 35, 7:48:15.4
14. Bruce James, Alabama, USA, 31, 7:58:36.0
15. Sara Castellano, Colorado, USA, 49, 8:03:29.6
16. Edie Hu, Hong Kong, 50, 8:05:45.4
17. Kerston Corns, Arizona, USA, 26, 8:07:49.7
18. Kathy McCarty, Maryland, USA, 64, 8:07:58.1
19. Eric Durban, Washington, USA, 70, 8:10:35.2
20. Kathleen Leslie, Maryland, USA, 58, 8:11:36.4
21. Jessi Harewicz, Canada, 43, 8:31:31.1
22. Brad Lundblad, Arizona, USA, 57, 8:38:51.4
23. Madi Carioty, Arizona, USA, 30, 8:58:39.8
24. Kiran Williams, Arizona, USA, 17, 9:04:10.9
25. Sara Barbera, Massachusetts, USA, 54, 9:05:08.1
26. Deborah Gardner, Arizona, USA, 66, 9:14:03.9
27. Sophie Ryan, Ireland, 48, 9:39:47.1
28. Scott Lanigan, Arizona, USA, 47, 9:47:24.6
29. Noah Heilbrun, Oregon, USA, 45, 9:53:51.4
30. Riley Quinlan (wetsuit 5:52:10) Arizona, USA, 31, 10:22:10.4
31. Elizabeth Sharpe (wetsuit) California, USA, 49, 10:29:35.1
DNF Gerald George, Arizona, USA, 67
DNF Jason Heavens, Arizona, USA, 62

For more information, visit www.scarswim.com.

© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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