FORT MYERS BEACH, Florida, May 17. IN the first day of competition at the 2007 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships, Chip Peterson of North Carolina Aquatic Club, and Chloe Sutton of California Capital Aquatics, each claimed 5K national titles.
Peterson, the defending 5K champ, clocked a time of 52:39.20 to defeat Fran Crippen of the Mission Viejo Nadadores (53:23.48) for the title. Meahwhile, Noa Sakamoto garnered bronze in 53:35.55 while competing unattached.
"This is the only (open water) race I do in the U.S. every year," said Peterson, the 2005 10K open world champion and 5K silver medalist. "It's one of my favorite races. The cuts (to qualify for this meet) were a little harder this year, so in terms of competition, it's a completely different race from couple of years ago. It's definitely faster.
"(The 5K) was an opportunity to come out here, see the course and get a feel for the competition," Peterson said. "It will be a different race on Saturday, but a lot of the same people will be in it. It's good way to gauge where I'm at right now."
In the women's race, Sutton posted a time of 58:23.45 to hold off Micha Burden of the Mission Viejo Nadadores (59:06.03) for her first 5K national title after placing second last year. Christine Jennings of Minnesota Aquatics wound up third in 59:38.89.
"Worlds was really intense," Sutton said after her swim. "But here, I took the lead at the beginning and had a good clear race. I'm confident now that I've got that swim under my belt and got to see the course first hand. It's very exciting. It's always a big deal to win a national title. Last year, I won the 10K, and this year I won the 5K. It's awesome."
The top 15 finishers in the men's and women's 10K Saturday will qualify for the Open Water Olympic Selection Meet/World Championships Trials, which will be held Oct. 20-21 in Fort Myers.
For pictures from the meet posted by USA Swimming, click here
USA Swimming Open Water National Championships
5K Results
Men – 1. Chip Peterson, North Carolina Aquatic Club, 52.39.20; 2. Fran Crippen, Mission Viejo Nadadores, 53.23.48; 3. Noa Sakamoto, unattached, 53.35.55; 4. Jan Wolfgarten, Gator Swim Club, 52:38.41; 5. Scott Kaufmann, Reno Aquatic Club, 54:08.57; 6. Steffan Troxel, Indiana University, 54:00.60; 7. Andrew Gremmell, Delaware Swim Team, 54:04.08; 8. Charlie Rimkus, Mission Viejo Nadadores, 54:11.29.
Women – 1. Chloe Sutton, California Capital Aquatics, 58:23.45; 2. Micha Burden, Mission Viejo Nadadores, 59:06.03; 3. Christine Jennings, Minnesota Aquatics, 59:38.89; 4. Whitney Sprague, North Carolina Aquatic Club, 59:40.93; 5. Kelly Ann Baird, Winston-Salem YMCA, 59:48.57; 6. Katelyn Martin, Magnus Aquatic Group, 59:50.67; 7. Liz Nelson, The Woodlands Swim Team, 1:00:02.42; 8. Meghan Leddy, Eastern Express Swim Team, 1:00:24.32.
Special thanks to USA Swimming for contributing to this report.