Grabiela Rojas Molina was the first person from Venezuela to attempt and complete the SCAR Swim Challenge, the 4-day 4-lake stage swim in Arizona. Her local escort was Dawn Heimlich who guided her to a 12th place finish by kayaking beside her throughout the rough-and-tumble cumulative time of 19 hours 15 minutes of SCAR:

• 3 hours 52 minutes across Saguaro Lake on Day One
• 4 hours 16 minutes across Canyon Lake on Day Two
• 8 hours 0 minutes across Apache Lake on Day Three
• 3 hours 6 minutes on Roosevelt Lake at night on Day Four

The 35-year-old masters swimmer currently lives very close to the sea in Valencia, Spain. The proximity to the Iberian Sea allows her to train in the open water throughout the winter, improving her tolerance to cold water.

She entered SCAR because “I felt intrigued by a challenge that pushed you to the limit, but that wasn’t isolating in the way a solo swim can be. In other words, I entered it to test myself, but also – and more importantly – to share the experience with other swimmers. SCAR brings together an incredible community.”

Last year when Molina first conceived of the idea of swimming SCAR, she intended to follow SCAR with one of the longest races offered in Spain. She explains, “I later dropped that idea. I’m not as experienced as some of the other swimmers who sign up for SCAR, so I decided to treat it as the challenge in and of itself.”

She described the crossing of each lake. “I thought Saguaro Lake on Day One was a sort of warm-up swim. But it had its difficulties. Because it was my first time in Arizona, I was not familiar with the logistics and so I got side tracked goofing around and not realizing I should be mentally preparing for the swim. Things hit me hard when my wave was called and suddenly I had to get ready, which took me forever. It was a relieve to jump in the cold water at the start.

Sadly for me, the cold didn’t last and Saguaro was warmer than I expected. 

Canyon Lake on Day Two was unlike anything I had seen before; it is simply stunning.

I was glad the water was cooler than Saguaro. In retrospect, I am also glad nobody warned me about how hard it was going to be. I went in thinking that it would be like the day before, except easier because it is supposed to be a tad shorter. I was proved so wrong.

It is not only that a head wind hit us from the very beginning and basically stayed with us almost the whole way, but the narrowness of the lake made it impossible for me to escape the wake of the many recreational boats that kept going back and forth, speeding up by us. I felt like a ping pong ball being hit and tossed around every other second.

But in Canyon Lake, you can look at the scenery and get comforted by the beauty around you, so that’s what I tried to do. I didn’t stop smiling at my kayaker to keep morale high, but I was really struggling and had to work hard to push away the “q-word” that was creeping in.

About three-quarters in I was so exhausted that I even fell asleep for a moment. But segments of really cold water kept coming in and that helped me, the cold makes me feel at ease. I thought I was going to be happy upon reaching the finish line, but all I was is relieved. I climbed onto Kent Nicholas’ boat utterly perplexed at how hard my butt had just been kicked. 

Having completed the previous two swims, Apache Lake is what I came to SCAR for. I think this was the real test: to get up again and attempt a swim that is almost as long as the previous two combined. But at this point, I was humbled and decided all I could do was try my very best. It started cold and easy, but it got so hard, But I found my rhythm in Apache Lake and I was blessed that Dawn, my kayaker, powered through the (up to 37 knot) wind gusts with all her might (for mighty she is!). I felt strong throughout the swim, but it was my kayaker who got me to the end. 

On the way to the last swim, we stopped at the Roosevelt Dam [see above]. That made me appreciate what we just accomplished. But it also hit me that I had to swim ten more kilometers. I just started laughing. My body was sore from head to toe and yet I had to jump back in. Kent really gave this event a lot of thought.

Roosevelt was about mental strength, because of my physical strength barely anything was left. Swimming into the horizon was beautiful, but I was numbed from the pain. I wished I had had more energy to enjoy it more, but those last strokes were the proudest of my life so far.  

During the Saguaro crossing, I loved the view, the calmness.

Throughout my Canyon swim, the view was also spectacular, more dramatic perhaps. In a roundabout way, I enjoyed that it put me through something very hard. 

Apache: – I love that this swim brings the best in people. That is how Kent designed it. I can see that that is what keeps people coming back. The volunteers, kayakers, and swimmers all work as one from the moment we have to unload the kayaks from the U-Haul until we make it to the end. My kayaker and I worked as a real team on this one. I was happy to high-five the faster swimmers who passed by me – we encouraged each other. And then, on the boat, it was all jokes, hugs and smiles. We just did something very hard. 

At the end at Roosevelt Lake, I enjoyed meeting everyone one last time. It was a relief that for the last stretch of the swim, the lake was completely calm.“

During the event, Molina consumed Sponser, a Swiss energy drink mix introduced to her by Martyn Webster. “Sponser worked well for me. But leading up to these swims, fellow SCAR swimmer Antonio Argüelles talked to me about the Maurten gels he uses so I gave those a try too. For SCAR, I drank the Sponser mix and complemented it with the gels and baby food containing bananas, strawberries and oats. It worked.”

© Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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