Arguably the most important swimming event of 2019 to be held domestically, the 2019 U.S. Open Water Swimming Championships will be held at the Miami Marine Stadium in Miami, Florida. The event will be held from May 3rd-5th.
The reason the 2019 Open Water Championships are so significant is that they are, in a sense, an Olympic Trials event. In open water swimming, the first 10 spots at the 2020 Olympic Games are given to the top 10 finishers in each of the men’s and women’s 10km races at the 2019 World Championships. If a country has a swimmer earn one (or two) of those spots in Gwangju next year, then that country is done qualifying for the open water races at the 2020 Olympic Games for that gender. In other words, a country can’t have a swimmer qualify via a top 10 finish at Worlds, and a swimmer qualify via the 2020 international Olympic qualifying race.
In short: if you’re an American, and you think it’s likely that one of your compatriots will finish in the top 10 at Worlds in 2019, then you need to get on the team, and finish in the top 10 as well, to book your ticket to the Olympics.
The event will also choose swimmers for the non-Olympic 5km, 25km, and team open water events at the World Championships.
The Miami Marine Stadium is a new stadium in the rotation as USA Swimming deviates from its historic back-and-forth between Lake Castaic in California and Lake Miromar in Florida. 2018 Open Water Nationals, for example, were hosted in Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona.
The venue will also bring a unique angle to the sport in that it’s a rare permanent venue for open water swimming – which is usually viewed via either standing on a beach, or sometimes via a temporary grandstand.
The Miami Marine Stadium, first built in 1963, is located on Virginia Key. It was the first stadium in the United States purpose-built for powerboat racing, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The local citizens pledged $3,000,000 renovation via a municipal bond in the early 2000s to repair damage caused by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and another gorup formed in 2008 to further restore it to its former glory. It has a seating capacity of 6,566. That’s bigger even than the temporary stands built for open water swimming at the 2016 Olympic Games at Fort Copacabana (5,000).
The venue features a huge dredged course on Biscayane Bay and a covered grandstand. Open Water Nationals will be one of the first sporting events that the arena will host after its rehabilitation – it’s being billed largely as a concert venue after reopening.
The arena, which is now too small for modern power boat races, has also hosted boxing matches, major concerts, and political rallies on its floating stage.
How do I qualify?
What is the qualification criteria? Can one qualify via an open water race vs time standard in a pool? If so, which open water races are qualifiers?
Nice – same dates as California high school sectional swimming championships.
Who says it is too small for modern powerboat racing? Site is more than large enough to host racing events. I race several classes of inboard hydroplanes. Would love to race at Miami Marine Stadium.
Might want to clean up that poop in the water first. https://www.miamiwaterkeeper.org/stop_beach_closures
Is anyone else concerned by this construction timeline (taken from the February 13, 2018 Miami Today)?
“Design development for the stadium is to be completed by August (2018), construction documents completed by December, permitting completed by June 2019, bidding and award completed by December 2019, and construction is to be finished by November 2021.”
I would assume the OW Nationals will take place in May or June, 2019 – which is before bidding and awarding of the construction contract are scheduled to take place.
It looks to be a very cool venue, but in need of a lot of work…
I remember driving by it last yr when I visited Miami and it was pretty neglected. Think like the Roman coliseum
Um…Yikes.
The architect is now working on restoration plans for the Marine Stadium and construction will not start for at least a year. You can find more information about the Stadium on our facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Restoremarinestadium
Braden, were dates given? I don’t see any in the article.
May 3rd-5th – I’ve added above.
Swim Miami has been held there in the past. It will be a great venue and the Race Director is first class. Good choice.
Will this be the first time US OW Nationals have been held in the ocean vs a lake?
No. It has been held in the ocean or gulf multiple times, but not since 2011, when it was held in Fort Lauderdale. Within the last decade, it was also in the ocean or gulf in 2010 (Long Beach) and 2007-2009 (Fort Myers Beach).