Swimming World Presents – 50 Swimmers, 6 Medals: Tokyo Olympics Open Water Preview

Swimming World June 2021- 50 Swimmers, 6 Medals - Tokyo Olympics Open Water Preview
Budapest, 2017

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50 Swimmers, 6 Medals: Tokyo Olympics Open Water Preview

By Dan D’Addona

 

The Tokyo Olympics will mark the fourth occasion that open water swimming will be contested on the Olympic level, and even a 10-kilometer marathon race can bring exciting moments and dramatic finishes.

 

Remember the Rio Olympics in 2016 and those two hot, sunny mornings at Copacabana Beach when two hours of racing came down to seconds at the end?

The women’s 10-kilometer marathon race in Rio saw the Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal swim away from the field and win by more than 16 seconds, but the drama came in the battle for second. France’s Aurelie Mueller touched second, but was disqualified for swimming on top of Italy’s Rachele Bruni just before the finish. That elevated Bruni to silver while Brazil’s Poliana Okimoto took bronze.

In the men’s race, Australia’s Jarrod Poort decided on the bold strategy of sprinting right from the start, and he led by an amazing one minute, 16 seconds at the halfway point, but he faded badly on the last lap and ended up 20th. The Netherlands completed a sweep of the open water gold medals as Ferry Weertman took gold in a tight finish over Greece’s Spiros Gianniotis. Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Jack Burnell touched third, but was disqualified for knocking the arm of Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli, the 2012 Olympic champion in the race, so the bronze went to Frenchman Marc-Antoine Olivier.

SELECTION PROCEDURE
Twenty-five swimmers will compete in both marathon races in Tokyo, and the fields will include the top 10 finishers from the women’s and men’s 10K, respectively, from the 2019 World Championships, as well as 15 swimmers to qualify at the official Olympic qualifier swim in Setubal, Portugal, scheduled for June 19-20. Those qualifying will include the top nine finishers overall—but no more than one swimmer from each country—as well as the top additional finisher from each of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania, and the top swimmer from Japan.

The qualifiers so far for the women’s race include China’s Xin Xin, the 2019 world champion, and American Haley Anderson. Anderson took silver at the 2019 Worlds to qualify for her third Olympics in the 10K after previously winning silver in the event at the 2012 Olympics, the only Olympic medal the U.S. has ever won in open water. Bruni also qualified after taking bronze at Worlds, and so did reigning 5K and 25K world champion Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil and American Ashley Twichell, the 2017 world champion in the 5K who will swim in her first Olympics in Tokyo at the age of 32. In addition to the United States, Germany will have two participants in the race, Finnia Wunram and Leonie Beck, but no other country will be allowed more than one swimmer.

Van Rouwendaal is assured of a chance to defend her gold medal after finishing 10th at Worlds, a tenth ahead of Mueller. But Mueller won’t be able to swim in Tokyo and seek some redemption after her 2016 DQ since French swimmer Lara Grangeon finished fourth at Worlds. No additional French swimmer is eligible to qualify.

 

To read the complete Olympic open water preview,
Click here to download the full May 2021 issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!

TSwimming World June 2021 - King 15 - Eddie Reese Retires After Leading Texas To 15th NCAA Championship
[PHOTO CREDIT: ISHOF ARCHIVE]


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Swimming World May 2021 Issue

FEATURES

014 WOMEN’S NCAAs: A NEW NO. 1
For the first time in the history of the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships—since 1982—the University of Virginia finished first. It was also the first time it cracked the top 5 with its previous highest finish sixth in 2019.

  • VIRGINIA’S ROAD TO HISTORY
    by Dan D’Addona
  • NC STATE ADDS TO ACC DOMINANCE
    by Dan D’Addona
  • THE TALK OF THE MEET: MAGGIE MacNEIL
    by John Lohn

018 MEN’S NCAAs: THE PERFECT RETIREMENT GIFT
Days before their coach, Eddie Reese, officially announced his retirement from coaching after 43 years, the Texas men’s team won their 15th men’s NCAA national team championship.

  • THIS ONE’S FOR EDDIE!
    by Andy Ross
  • SCINTILLATING PERFORMANCES: SHAINE CASAS & RYAN HOFFER
    by John Lohn
  • PATIENCE REWARDED: MAX McHUGH & NICK ALBIERO
    by Andy Ross

022 NCAA D-II CHAMPS: SOME THINGS NEVER SEEM TO CHANGE
by Andy Ross
A year into the pandemic that has completely changed our world, Queens University of Charlotte brought about some stability to the 2021 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships by sweeping their sixth straight women’s and men’s team titles.

023 NO LIMITS!
by David Rieder
Claire Curzan has been swimming fast since she was a young age grouper and has continued to do so in high school. Last March, she came within 13-hundredths of the American record in the short course 100 fly, and in April, she found herself within 22-hundredths of the long course U.S. best. She’s versatile, she’s coachable, she has international experience, and she’s moved from a fringe Olympic contender to an Olympic favorite. Curzan is only 16, and her promising future couldn’t be brighter.

026 TAKEOFF TO TOKYO: WHEN IRISH EYES WEREN’T SMILING
by John Lohn
Ireland’s Michelle Smith—a four-time Olympic medalist in 1996 who received a four-year ban from the sport in 1998 for tampering with a doping sample—has been defined as being a poster girl for cheating, and by her willingness to cut corners and take advantage of performance-enhancing drug use to make the leap from an athlete of very-good skill to one of elite status.

029 50 SWIMMERS, 6 MEDALS
by Dan D’Addona
The Tokyo Olympics will mark the fourth occasion that open water swimming will be contested on the Olympic level, and even a 10-kilometer marathon race can bring exciting moments and dramatic finishes.

030 JOSH MATHENY: RISING STAR
by Matthew De George
From a middle-schooler newly committed to swimming full-time in 2016, the future looks encouraging for 18-year-old Josh Matheny, who approaches the U.S. Olympic Trials for Tokyo in June as a dark horse to make the team in men’s breaststroke.

032 ISHOF: THE ART OF SWIMMING
by Bruce Wigo
This is the story of Hero and Leander, Lord Byron and the birth of open water swimming.

035 NUTRITION: HYDRATION—BEYOND THIRST!
by Dawn Weatherwax
Hydration truly has a daily importance for all kinds of swimmers from age groupers to Olympians to Masters swimmers, but it tends to get more notoriety when the weather gets warmer.

COACHING

012 THE POWER OF POSITIVE COACHING
by Michael J. Stott
Relationships built upon honesty, trust and communication go a long way toward cementing a bond between coach and athlete. Coupling that with knowledge of the individual first and athlete second produces a positive working relationship that can last for a lifetime.

038 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: MAXIMIZING SWIMMING VELOCITY (Part 1)—STROKE RATE vs. STROKE LENGTH
by Rod Havriluk
Swimming velocity is the criterion measure for swimming performance and is the product of stroke length and stroke rate. This article explains how stroke length and stroke rate vary and how stroke time provides insight into maximizing swimming velocity.

042 Q&A WITH COACH STEVE HAUFLER
by Michael J. Stott

044 HOW THEY TRAIN CHARLOTTE SHAMIA
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

037 DRYSIDE TRAINING: THE IM DRYLAND CIRCUIT
by J.R. Rosania

JUNIOR SWIMMER

047 UP & COMERS: TEAGAN O’DELL
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COLUMNS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

011 DID YOU KNOW: ABOUT THE MOREHOUSE TIGER SHARKS?

046 THE OFFICIAL WORD

048 GUTTERTALK

Swimming World is now partnered with the International Swimming Hall of Fame. To find out more, visit us at ishof.org

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