Men’s Open Water 10K – Final (Lake Balaton, Hungary)

Results

Gold: Feery Weertman (NED), 1:51:58.5
Silver: Jordan Wilimovsky (Malibu, Calif./Team Santa Monica), 1:51:58.6
Bronze: Marc-Antoine Olivier (FRA), 1:51:59.2
9. Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif./Unattached), 1:52:18.6

Notes
• After winning gold two years ago in Kazan and silver today, Wilimovsky is the only American male with multiple medals in the FINA World Championships 10K. The United States now has won five all-time medals in the event.
• Following the first of four laps, Wilimovsky sat in 49^th place, 31 seconds off the lead. He made steady progress over the next 5K and had moved to sixth place – just 7 seconds behind – heading onto the final 2.5K lap.
• About midway through the final lap, Wilimovsky joined Olivier at the front of the lead pack. Heading into the final 200-meter straightaway, the three eventual medalists were nearly swimming side-by-side. Weertman out-touched Wilimovsky for gold by just one-tenth of a second, and the entire podium was separated by just by just seven-tenths.
• Casey was competing in his first-ever FINA World Championships event. He swam among the lead pack throughout the entire race.
• The United States and Italy are the only nations to place two women and two men in the top 10 finishers in 10K events.

Quotes
Jordan Wilimovsky: (on his race): “It was a fun race. I just tried to stay at the back for the first two laps and then build into it. I probably let myself get a little too far behind. I worked to make my way back up to the front, and I got into a good spot I think heading into the final stretch and I had good position for the sprint. I had a little left at the end, but just got out-touched at the end. I’m happy to get on the podium for the USA.”

Wilimovsky (on the finish): “I took the inside the line and Feery took the farther line. I guess he had a little better line than and a little better finish coming at the end … I figured it was smarter just to stick on my line and I thought I had a good kick at the end, but I guess I was a little short into the finish and he got me right at the end.”

Wilimovsky (on winning back-to-back FINA World Championships medals in the 10K): “Definitely my goal every time I come here is to get on the podium for the United States and put in a good showing. I’m happy I was able to do that.”

Brendan Casey: (on his race): “I was just chilling for the first half of the race, stayed in the back of the lead pack. I was trying to go at the start of the third lap, but everyone was sprinting and fighting so I relaxed until my feed about halfway through the third lap and then started moving up. The last lap I tried to stay with that group of five; I kind of lost them over the last 1,000, but I came around the last turn and just tried to beat the guys next to me. I was happy with top 10.”

Casey: (on earning a top-10 finish at his first FINA World Championships): “Other years that would have qualified for the Olympics, so that’s a big step for me for the future and gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”

Up Next
Wednesday, July 19: Women’s 5K