Weertman and Anderson Win, But Lee and Sloman Defend Titles in Australian 10K

2020 AUSTRALIAN OPEN WATER SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• January 25th-27th, 2020
• Brighton Jetty, Adelaide, South Australia
• Event site
• Open Water Selection Priority
• Live Results
• Schedule of Events
• Start Lists

It was déjà vu in South Australia on Saturday at the 2020 Australian Open Water Swimming Championships in the premier 10km race on Saturday. There, Kareena Lee defended her Australian title in the women’s 10km race, while Nicholas Sloman won his 3rd-consecutive Australian title. The two are training partners at the Noosa club in Queensland. Those titles were earned as the top domestic finishers, though in both cases the swimmers placed behind international contenders in the overall standings.

Winners of each race scored AUD2,500 in prize money, or around USD1,700.

• Full Swimming Australia blow-by-blow race report here.

In the first race of the day, the men’s 10km swim, Sloman finished as the top Australian but in 3rd place overall. The winner was Dutch swimmer Ferry Weertman, the defending Olympic champion in the event, in 1:55:45.24, while American Jordan Wilimovsky was 2nd in 1:55:49.46. Sloman placed 3rd, just a touch behind Wilimovsky, in 1:55:49.63.

Sloman was well ahead of the next-best Australian, Perth City’s Nicholas Rollo, who finished 7th overall in 1:57:20.90. The 3rd-best Australian was Riley Clout in 1:57:41.57 (8th overall). Kai Edwards, last year’s other Australian representative to the World Championships, finished 9th overall and as the 4th-best Australian in the open race. The 19-year old champion Hayden Cotter, however, beat him out, which blocks Edwards out of the list of men who earned funding for the Doha stop of the FINA Open Water Series in February, which will determine Australia’s 2 representatives to the Olympic Open Water Qualifying event in Japan later this year.

Top 10 Men Finishers Open 10KM:

1. Ferry Weertman, Netherlands – 1:55:45.24
2. Jordan Wilimovsky, USA – 1:55:49.46
3. Nicholas Sloman, Noosa, Australia – 1:55:49.63
4. Matan Roditi, Israel – 1:55:49.96
5. Jon McKay, Canada – 1:55:53.32
6. Nick Norman, USA – 1:56:05.59
7. Nicholas Rollo, Perc, Australia – 1:57:20.90
8. Riley Clout, TSS, Australia – 1:57:41.57
9. Kai Edwards, TSS, Australia – 1:57:56.60
10. Gordon Mason, Great Britain – 1:58:06.46

The women’s race had less at stake, with Kareena Lee having already secured her spot in the Olympic 10km event via a 7th-place finish at last year’s World Championships and thereby blocking out all other Australian women from Tokyo in this discipline.

There were still bragging rights, prize money, and qualifications to other meets on the line, however. The touch saw a photo finish between Lee and defending Worlds silver medalist Haley Anderson of the United States, with Lee getting her hand on the pad first in 2:02:28.05. Lee was 2nd in 2:02:28.35, and American Ashley Twichell, who is also already qualified for the Olympics, was 3rd in 2:02:29.88.

Chelsea Gubecka finished as the 2nd-best Australian in 2:02:31.17.

Top 10 Women’s Finishers:

1. Haley Anderson, USA – 2:02:28.05
2. Kareena Lee, Noosa, Australia – 2:02:28.35
3. Ashley Twichell, USA – 2:02:29.88
4. Chelsea Gubecka, YERPK, Australia – 2:02:31.17
5. Eva Fabian, Israel – 2:02:35.32
6. Bianca Crisp, TSS, Australia – 2:02:35.83
7. Katie Campbell, USA – 2:02:53.54
8. Jordan White, SLCA, Australia – 2:03:06.62
9. Ebony Blackstone, YERPK, Australia – 2:04:55.57
10. Mikayla Messer, NCOLL, Australia – 2:05:53.14

Swimming Australia Selection Summary:

Next stage of Olympic Qualification to attend Marathon Swim Series in Doha:
Nick Sloman (Noosa)
Hayden Cotter (Belgravia)
Jack Wilson (West Coast WA)
Nicholas Rollo (Perth City)

World Junior Open Water Qualifiers:
Hayden Cotter (Belgravia)*
Jack Wilson (West Coast WA)*
Chloe Gubecka (Kawana Waters)
Mackenzie Brazier (Kawana Waters)
Ruben Rees (Miami)
Thomas Raymond (Nudgee College)
Finella Gibbs-Beal (Noosa)
Tiffany Walsh (Narrabeen)

*The opportunity to make the Olympic team may impact their selection for the World Junior Open Water Championships, this will be determined pending results from Doha.

Sunday’s 5KM Races

• Full Swimming Australia blow-by-blow race report here.

Sunday’s 5KM race saw all of the international competitors pull out of the women’s event, but Dutchman Ferry Weertman hold strong in the men’s event. He won the race handily in 56:00.24, 19 seconds ahead of Canadian Jon McKay in 56:19.19. None of the American men raced on Sunday.

Australia’s Matthew Robinson claimed the National Championship in 56:19.98, while Nicholas Rollo, the only of the 4 Australians to advance to Doha, was 4th overall in 56:20.24.

Top 5 Men’s 5K Finishers:

1. Ferry Weertman, Netheralnds – 56:00.24
2. Jon McKay, Canada – 56:19.19
3. Matthew Robinson, KAWTR, Australia – 56:19.98
4. Nicholas Rollo, PERC, Australia – 56:20.24
5. Cormac Gutrie, Sydney University, Australia – 56:25.53

In the women’s race, Maddy Gough, who was 5th at Worlds in the pool in the 1500 free and didn’t race the 10k on Saturday, won in a 5k runaway. Touching in 58:08.56, she was almost 3 minutes ahead of the field, and was the only competitor to finish in under an hour.

She led a 1-2-3-4 finish from TSS Aquatics on the Gold Coast.

Top 5 Women’s 5K Finishers:

1. Maddy Gough, TSS – 58:08.56
2. Moesha Johnson, TSS – 1:00:51.96
3. Bianca Crisp, TSS – 1:01:08.79
4. Laura Taylor, TSS – 1:01:14.55
5. Jade Slee, Miami – 1:01:15.82