Photo of Dr. Nazor and her students at McCallie School, courtesy of McCallie School.
Karah Nazor, PhD has been a lifelong swimmer who has developed from an age group competitive sprinter to a young woman with an impressive career of marathon swims, channel swims, high-altitude swims, lake swims and river swims throughout the world.
But delve beyond her personal achievements in the water and her creation of one of America’s most beloved and creative races – the 10-mile Swim the Suck event in Chattanooga, Tennessee – and Dr. Nazor is a fascinating, multi-talented educator, scientist and mentor.
Currently, Dr. Nazor is a science teacher at McCallie High School in Chattanooga where she teaches biology, molecular biology, environmental science and marine biology and runs many active molecular-based research projects on Aurelia Aurita and Cassiopeia Jellyfish in collaboration with the Tennessee Aquarium.
In addition to the Swim the Suck, she established the C.O.W.S. (Chattanooga Open Water Swimmers), the Snail Darter 1 Mile Sprint, and the 2014 US Masters Swimming Open Water National Championships – all after working as the Chief Scientist in the Biomedical Division at eSpin Technologies, studying prion biology at University of California San Francisco where she was able to swim with moon jellyfish with El Sharko in Tomales Bay.
The biologist who has completed her Triple Crown of the Tennessee is shining a path for not only swimmers of all ages, but the next generation of scientists, researchers. She explained her path to the open water and to scientific discovery on today’s edition of WOWSA Live including:
* her crossing of the English Channel in 12 hours 28 minutes
* her focus on safety at the Swim the Suck with its kayakers
* her academic and scientific pursuits including her study and fascination with jellyfish
* swimming in and around San Francisco Bay and with South End Rowing Club
* her involvement with Ironman Chattanooga
For more information about the Swim the Suck and Snail Darter events, visit www.swimthesuck.org. For more information about the McCallie School, visit www.mccallie.org.
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