Mission Viejo’s David Heron was the second highest finishing American in the 10K on Friday at the 2019 Open Water Nationals in Miami. Heron finished fourth overall in the race behind Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri and Mario Sanzullo but was the second American behind Jordan Wilimovsky. Heron and Wilimovsky will represent Team USA at the 2019 World Championships in the 10K swim. This is Heron’s first selection in the 10K after he was 10th at the 2017 Worlds in the 5K and 10th in the 25K and sixth in the 5K at the 2015 Worlds. The top ten finishers at the 2019 World Championships will automatically qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
Heron talked about how he thought he swam in the 10K on Friday in Miami and his thoughts on completing “step one” for qualifying for the Olympics. Heron also talked about his race plan for the 10K and how he was able to stay composed throughout the race after not getting off to a great start.
Heron also went through his preparations for the 10K here and his decision to fully shave down for the meet. He also talked about how he is fully committing himself to open water swimming and won’t be doing too many pool races in the near future.
He currently trains in Mission Viejo in California with his home club team after he swam four years for the University of Tennessee, graduating in 2017.
