Courtesy of S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge, Roosevelt Lake, Arizona.

Jessica Kieras swam the fastest cumulative time in 14 hours 43 minutes over four days in the four stages of the S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge to earn the SCAR Buckle.

As did the men’s winner, John Batchelder who finished the 15.2 km crossing of Saguaro Lake, 14.4 km crossing of Canyon Lake, 27.3 km crossing of Apache Lake, and 10 km night swim in Roosevelt Lake.

But all the swimmers are and felt like winners notwithstanding their soreness, fatigue and sunburn. Greg O’Connor reflected back upon his swims, “What a great four days. There was great water, weather and organization. If you haven’t done SCAR, you should in 2020.”

Race director Kent Nicholas remembered about just one of the innumerable incredible swimmers and moments over the last four days, “Cathy Harrington made the Apache Lake swim this year; it was pretty amazing after several attempts. What made it even better was Cathy had her daughter Janna paddling for her which made it very special.”

Each swimmer who completes the longest swim of the stage swim series receive a special black SCAR swim cap which has become a major goal of many across the marathon swimming community.

Cumulative Time across Saguaro + Canyon + Apache + Roosevelt Lakes on Days 1-4:
1. Jessica Kieras 14:43:56.8
2. John Batchelder 15:10:11.6
3. Jack Zedlitz 15:20:05.0
4. Milko van Gool 16:04:28.5
5. Bambi Bowman Burgess 16:08:17.5
6. Kurt Adkins 16:10:51.2
7. Rebecca Hollingsworth 16:31:47.3
8. Kathleen Pelczynski 16:43:55.2
9. Dr. Steven Minaglia 16:49:43.3
10. Melody Pinkerton 16:52:05.2
11. Abigail Fairman 17:01:10.0
12. Mary Knott 17:02:08.9
13. James Cherry 17:57:12.5
14. Dave Loeffler 18:02:16.1
15. Peter Hayden 18:18:02.6
16. Maureen Conley 18:22:01.1
17. Natalia Chuich 18:29:19.4
18. Greg O’Connor 19:13:51.0
19. Kirk McKinney 19:31:03.7
20. Debbie Collingwood 19:48:36.3
21. Katie Blessington 20:01:36.7
22. Barbara Lastelic 20:03:38.9
23. Jennifer Dutton 20:06:06.6
24. Matthew van de Schootbrugge 20:09:22.2
25. Andrew K Wells 20:12:36.6
26. Mary Stella 20:44:48.9
27. Everett Britton 21:07:00.0
28. Jeffrey Breen 21:22:06.1
29. Cassandra Oliver 22:55:19.2
30. Margot McKirdy 24:04:59.0
31. Michelle Squyer 28:22:06.4
3 races: Mark Spratt
3 races: Karl Pettijohn
3 races: Cathy Harrington
3 races: Thomas Schwartz
2 races: Lauren Langford
2 races: Joe Zemaitis
2 races: Catherine Breed
2 races: Ricardo Ibarra
2 races: Susie Paul
1 race: Nora Toledano
1 race: Kristin Jones
1 race: Timothy Murphy
1 race: Amy Gubser
1 race: Emmalee Swank
1 race: Stephanie N. Mindlin
1 race: Brad Lundblad
1 race: Erin Churchill
1 race: Peter Lofquist
1 race: Tom Linthicum

Day 4 on Roosevelt Lake started with a beautiful sunset and continued under a star-filled sky.

Day 4 Roosevelt Lake Results:
1. Catherine Breed (26) 2:34:07.3
2. Jessica Kieras (38) 2:48:54.4
3. Jack Zedlitz (44) 2:50:48.1
4. John Batchelder (38) 2:55:07.9
5. Milko van Gool (53) 3:02:29.5
6. Lauren Langford (30) 3:05:32.3
7. Dr. Steven Minaglia (46) 3:06:16.5
8. Bambi Bowman Burgess (45) 3:12:06.5
9. Kurt Adkins (31) 3:15:51.2
10. Mark Spratt (63) 3:17:28.1
11. Rebecca Hollingsworth (30) 3:17:48.8
12. Melody Pinkerton (54) 3:17:49.2
13. Maureen Conley (35) 3:19:23.4
14. Kathleen Pelczynski (33) 3:21:23.0
15. Dave Loeffler (54) 3:25:17.3
16. Mary Knott (42) 3:25:34.4
17. James Cherry (62) 3:28:10.8
18. Ricardo Ibarra (53) 3:36:28.6
19. Peter Hayden (61) 3:36:55.6
20. Abigail Fairman (42) 3:36:57.7
21. Natalia Chuich (52) 3:42:12.0
22. Matthew van de Schootbrugge (29) 3:48:13.2
23. Kirk McKinney (52) 3:48:40.4
24. Greg O’Connor (50) 3:49:06.9
25. Timothy Murphy (49) 3:50:42.0
26. Debbie Collingwood (48) 3:58:28.8
27. Jennifer Dutton (51) 4:00:26.5
28. Everett Britton (55) 4:00:35.0
29. Andrew K Wells (39) 4:02:20.2
30. Barbara Lastelic (52) 4:03:40.8
31. Mary Stella (42) 4:10:06.5
32. Jeffrey Breen (51) 4:16:08.1
33. Katie Blessington (17) 4:16:37.6
34. Cassandra Oliver (30) 4:28:45.8
35. Karl Pettijohn (56) 4:32:06.6
36. Margot McKirdy (33) 5:01:18.3
37. Michelle Squyer (51) 5:33:22.1
DNF Cathy Harrington (62)

Jessica Kieras [shown above] swam a historically fast time in 14 hours 43 minutes [see below].

2018 SCAR Swim Top 5 Finishers across Saguaro + Canyon + Apache + Roosevelt Lakes:
1. Jamie Ann Phillips 15:15:20.6
2. Stefan Reinke 15:37:47.3
3. Kurt Adkins 15:42:43.5
4. Attila Manyoki 15:53:42.6
5. Liz Uribe 16:02:25.4

2017 SCAR Swim Top 4 Finishers across Saguaro + Canyon + Apache + Roosevelt Lakes:
1. Stephen Rouch 16:48:49.3
2. Abigail Fairman 19:14:38.6
3. Amy Gubser 20:17:56.6
4. Matthew Schubert 20:21:11.1

2016 SCAR Swim Top 5 Finishers across Saguaro + Canyon + Apache + Roosevelt Lakes:
1. Stephen Rouch 15:45:31.11
2. Jamie Proffitt 16:11:24.57
3. Kristin Jones 16:54:01.49
4. Ernie Hoftyzer 17:09:07.68
5. Asha Allen 21:04:55.65

2015 SCAR Swim Top 5 Finishers across Saguaro + Canyon + Apache + Roosevelt Lakes:
1. Cole Gindhart 16:13:14.8
2. Cheryl Reinke 16:42:46.3.5
3. Anna Delozier 17:01:38.6
4. Stefan Reinke 17:14:37.3
5. Chris Greene 18:02:18.3

The overall record holder over all 4 stages of the S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge is channel standout Grace van der Byl who swam a cumulative time of 13 hours 7 minutes 16 seconds in 2013 (Saguaro Lake in 2 hours 50 minutes 0 seconds + Canyon Lake in 2 hours 41 minutes 5 seconds + Apache Lake in 5 hours 10 minutes 13 seconds + Roosevelt Lake in 2 hours 25 minutes 58 seconds).

Additional articles on the 2019 SCAR Swim are posted below:

* Sunset Starts SCAR
* S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge Breeds Toughness
* Keeping Pace At SCAR Swim Challenge
* SCAR Is On, The 4-Day Race Has Begun
* SCAR Swim Challenge, A Kent Nicholas Dream Realized
* Unique Awards In The Open Water Swimming World, Part 1

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