Courtesy of S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge, Saguaro Lake, Arizona.
John Batchelder is well-known globally as a prolific marathon swimming butterflyer. But he shifted gears on his first marathon swim of 2019.
The Colorado resident, escorted by Lynn Acton, writes, “I have another busy year planned [that started] today with the first leg of S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge. I’ve decided to put the butterfly swims – mostly – on hold this year.”
Batchelder used freestyle to win the 15.2 km leg across Saguaro Lake in a close race with Jessica Kieras amid the desert of the state of Arizona.
Over the next three days, competitors will swim the 14.4 km stage on Day 2 in Canyon Lake followed by Day 3’s 27.3 km stage in Apache Lake, and Day 4’s 10 km stage in Roosevelt Lake.
Saguaro Lake Stage Results:
1. John Batchelder 3:17:36.9
2. Jessica Kieras 3:18:15.9
3. Jack Zedlitz 3:19:53.2
4. Milko Van Gool 3:28:52.8
5. Joe Zemaitis 3:30:27.8
6. Kurt Adkins 3:33:26.7
7. Bambi Bowman Burgess 3:35:17.1
8. Dr. Steven Minaglia 3:36:50.3
9. Lauren Langford 3:37:14.8
10. Kathleen Pelczynski 3:38:30.2
11. Kristin Jones 3:39:35.5
12. Abigail Fairman 3:40:35.9
13. Melody Pinkerton 3:40:47.4
14. Mary Knott 3:40:56.2
15. Dave Loeffler 3:41:07.7
16. Rebecca Hollingsworth 3:41:25.4
17. Mark Spratt 3:46:30.3
18. Susie Paul 4:02:09.8
19. Greg O’Connor 4:03:45.9
20. Ricardo Ibarra 4:05:13.9
21. Maureen Conley 4:07:41.0
22. Katie Blessington 4:08:19.3
23. Peter Hayden 4:08:24.9
24. James Cherry 4:10:36.1
25. Natalia Chuich 4:10:49.6
26. Jeffrey Breen 4:11:22.1
27. Emmalee Swank 4:13:28.3
28. Kirk McKinney 4:15:13.5
29. Andrew K Wells 4:16:57.2
30. Barbara Lastelic 4:17:41.6
31. Debbie Collingwood 4:18:17.9
32. Matthew Van De Schootbrugge 4:26:32.6
33. Mary Stella 4:27:16.1
34. Jennifer Dutton 4:30:28.5
35. Karl Pettijohn 4:43:04.6
36. Everett Britton 4:47:28.0
37. Cassandra Oliver 5:05:23.3
38. Margot McKirdy 5:17:31.0
39. Michelle Squyer 6:08:00.0
40. Stephanie N. Mindlin 6:08:15.0
41. Cathy Harrington 6:08:32.0
Batchelder will swim in northern Japan later this year across the Tsugaru Channel where he is raising money for Rachel’s Challenge, a great cause [read here].
Photo above shows safety crew members Bryan, Steve, Joe, RT, John, Kent and Brad Lundblad.
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