Meet Kent Nicholas: long distance swimmer and founder of SCAR

In the latest in our Virtual Q&A series, we spoke to long-distance swimmer Kent Nicholas, who created SCAR Swim Arizona – a swimming event that takes you through four Arizona lakes over four days

In 2012, Kent created SCAR Swim Arizona, which was voted the world’s number one swimming event in 2022. SCAR takes you through four Arizona lakes over four days: Saguaro (15.2km), Canyon (14.4km), Apache (27.3km), and Roosevelt (10km, night swim).

Kent is an accomplished swimmer himself, as well as a paddler (to support other swimmers) and an official observer. His abridged swimming CV looks like this:

Triple Crown swimmer as of 2013
LaJolla Roughwater
Seal Beach 10 miles
Border Buster 15K in Vermont
Swim the Suck, 10 miles, in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Trans Tahoe Relay (A relay circumnavigating Catalina Island and Santa Barbara Island exceeding 100 miles)
Paddler and observer for Santa Barbara Channel Association
Observer for the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation

In our Virtual Q&A, we asked Kent about his vision for SCAR and what it takes to complete the challenge. We then moved on to more general questions about training, psychological aspects of long distance swimming, and – as usual – fielded questions from the audience.