Ous Mellouli Against the World

By Steven Munatones

SAN FRANCISCO, California, October 2. OUSSAMA Mellouli trailed the leaders over the first 1100 meters of the Olympic 1500-meter finals. Then, he surged to the front, opened up a gap and held off Grant Hackett to dramatically win the gold in one of the most anticipated races in Beijing.

When he stole the stage from two-time Olympic gold medalist Hackett, Mellouli used the playbook of champion open water swimmers. During the first part of the race, Mellouli stuck near the leaders, then spotted an opening and made a powerful move to the front, holding off the pack in a sprint to the finish.

On Sunday, in the expected 64°F (17.7°C) waters of San Francisco Bay, Mellouli will need to take out his playbook and polish off his Olympic-winning ways. Mellouli will face 20 pool and open water Olympians and world champions from around the world in the ninth annual RCP Tiburon Mile.

Considered the most prestigious "SuperStars" competition where pool and open water swimming stars come together, Mellouli will be fighting against a slew of All-Stars, all eager to win the $10,000 winner-take-all first prize.

Dave Salo, his coach at USC, described Mellouli's Olympic performance by saying, "Ous swam a perfect race against the very best the world has ever seen in the 1500 free."

Facing the likes of two-time defending Tiburon Mile champion, Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia and Olympic 10K bronze medalist Thomas Lurz of Germany, Mellouli will have to swim another perfect race to win. Australia is also sending its top open water swimmers who have been recently winning ocean races from Sydney to Hawaii. North Carolina's Chip Peterson, the 2005 10K world champion, and double Olympic medalist Erik Vendt are also expected to be in the hunt.

On the women's side, Chloe Sutton of Mission Viejo is the two-time defending champion and looking for a three-peat. Like Mellouli, Sutton will face a tough crowd. Multiple-time world open water champion Britta Kamrau-Corestein of Germany, Florida's 14-time All-American Dawn Heckman, German 100 and 200 specialist Annika Lurz, 9-time national open water champion Erica Rose and up-and-coming Australian Luane Rowe will be gunning for Sutton.

Besides coverage by Swimming World Magazine, John Naber, Rowdy Gaines and The Morning Swim Show's own Peter Busch will provide the play-by-play for a special Comcast Sports Net broadcast in November.

Last year, Vendt shot out to the lead, but took a wrong line to the finish. Other top pool swimmers have made similar navigational or tactical errors during the Tiburon Mile. The thousands of fans that line the banks of the San Francisco Bay to watch the star-studded event know that pre-race predictions mean nothing once those athletes hit the cold water and aim for the $10,000 finish line.

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