Start Lists Posted for 2019 US Open Water National Championships

2019 US Open Water National Champioships

• May 3rd-5th, 2019
• Miami Marine Stadium, Miami, Florida
• Race course/logistics
• Start Lists

Starts lists for the 2019 US National Championships in open water swimming have been released ahead of next week’s start of competition at the Miami Marine Stadium.

The refurbished and revitalized Miami Marine Stadium is as unique of a venue as we’ve seen for the event. It was originally used as a venue for power boat racing and has now been refurbished into a concert stadium on Biscayane Bay.

One lap of the course will run 1,670 meters, meaning that competitors in the 5km race will swim 3 laps, while 10km competitors will swim 6. The weekend will also feature the Swim Miami event on the same course with age group races ranging from 800 meters to 10k.

National Championship Schedule:

Friday, May 3rd, 2019

• Women’s 10km National Championship – 8:00 AM
• Men’s 10km National Championship – 10:30 AM

Saturday, May 4th, 2019

• Men’s 5km Junior National Championship – 8:00 AM
• Women’s 5km Junior National Championship – 8:05 AM

Sunday, May 5th, 2019

• Men’s 5km National Championship – 7:30 AM
• Women’s 5km National Championship – 7:35 AM

Technical Meetings for each event will take place the day before at the Miami Marine Stadium.

What’s At Stake:

This national championship is the official start of qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games for USA Swimming. That’s because the first opportunity to qualify for the Olympics in open water is via the 2019 World Championships. The top 10 finishers from the men’s and women’s 10km races, respectively, will earn an automatic passage to the 2020 Olympic Games.

There are later qualifying opportunities, but crucially, if a country qualifies at least 1 swimmer via a top 10 finish at Worlds, they are not able to qualify any other swimmers at future qualifying events. Given the United States’ recent success at World Championships (Jordan Wilimovsky was 2nd and Brendan Casey was 9th in the men’s 10k at Worlds in 2017; Haley Anderson was 6th and Ashley Twichell was 10th in the women’s event), a top 2 spot in the 10k at Nationals will be the only probable path for Olympic open water qualifying for Americans.

Other Selection Procedures:

• Athletes that qualify for the 2019 World Championships will be put on the Open Water National Team. Then, any remaining spots will be filled based on results of the 10km race, until there are 6 men and 6 women on the team.
• Eligible National Junior Team athletes will be chosen based on 10km National Championship results – top 6 males and top 6 females (must be 18 & under as of September 1, 2019). Athletes cannot be on the National Team and the National Junior Team in the same year.
• The 10k winner will make the World Championship team in the 10km race. He/she will have the option of competing in the 25km race as well.
• The 10k runner-up will make the World Championship team in the 10km race. He/she will have the option of competing in the 25k race as well.
• The 5k winner will make the World Championship team in the 5km race.
• The 5k runner-up will make the World Championship team in the 5km race
• If either of the top 2 finishers in the 5k at the National Championship meet declines their spot, then the 5km spots will be filled from further finishers in the 5km race at Nationals.
• Any vacancies in the 10km or 25km race will be filled based on finish order from the 10km race at Nationals
• Coaches may select any athlete already on the team to compete in the team 10km race.
• The top 2 men and women from the 10km race at the National Championships will be selected for the 10km race at Pan Ams. Vacant spots will be filled based on finish order in the 10km race at Nationals.

Note: we could not locate the 2019 World Championship, World University Games, or Pan American Games selection criteria for USA Swimming anywhere, but the above is based on the proposed selection criteria that we’ve been told was accepted.

The Field

The men’s field has Jordan Wilimovsky, the 2017 World Championship silver medalist in the 10km race, as the favorite, with a very deep field behind him. That includes names like David Heron, Michael Brinegar, Brendan Casey, Taylor Abbott, and Brennan Gravley: all of whom have the potential to grab the 2nd spot in the 10k for the World Championships.

Casey, specifically, joined Wilimovsky in Budapest 2 years ago, and he trained through this year’s NCAA Championships to make sure that he was prepared for this meet.

This year’s field also has some very high profile international swimmers in it too. That includes Sweden’s Victor Johansson, Austria’s Felix Auboeck, and Canada’s Eric Hedlin and Jon McKay. One of the more interesting names is that of Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri. The 24-year old is the defending Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 1500 free and the two-time defending World Champion in the same event in the pool.

The Canadians will be returning from the Canadian Trials, which are being held this weekend in the Grand Caymans.

The women’s field will be led by two front-runners that have separated themselves from the American pack. Ashley Twichell won last year’s National Title in 1:52:12, which put her in a 17-second runaway from the field. 2012 Olympic silver medalist Haley Anderson was 2nd at Nationals, and wound up with the win at the Pan Pacific Championships (where Twichell was 4th).

There’s a pack of very young swimmers behind her though, including teenagers Erica Sullivan and Chase Travis, who both also made the trip to Pan Pacs last year.

Other contenders include Katie Campbell, Twichell’s training partner Hannah Moore, a resurgent Becca Mann, and 15-year old Mariah Denigan. Denigan is especially intriguing, as she finished int he top 10 last season when she was just 14 years old, and was within 26 seconds of the top 2.

The women’s field will see a much smaller group of internationals in the 10k, but among that small group is Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha. A 25km superstar, Cunha will close the race better than anybody in the field, and was the 2017 World Championship bronze medalist in the 5km and 10km races as well. She’s arguably the best female all-around open water swimmer in the world right now.

A few interesting names that join the field this year, that didn’t race last year, include Louisville pool All-American Sophie Cattermole in the women’s race, and American Record holder in the pool Zane Grothe. Grothe is already on the Worlds team in pool swimming. He took his most serious trip into the open water at Pan Pacs last year (as an optional event after qualifying via a pool swim). He finished last out of 14 competitors in that race, 5 minutes behind the winner Wilimovsky, but that hasn’t shied him away from going after the distance again next week in Miami.