Marathon Swimming at the Olympics
Marathon Swimming at the Olympics is a unique event that is held during the summer games. It is the fastest competition in aquatic sports, and many athletes are determined to win. Some of the best swimmers compete in this event, and there are some great stories from the past. Sebastien Quah, Jordan Wilimovsky, Ferry Weertman, and Sean Ryan are just some of the names you might hear in this event.
Sebastien Quah
The Singaporean Marathon Swimmer will represent his country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He will join his older brother, two-time Olympic champion Joseph Schooling and open-water specialist Chantal Liew at the Games. The race will take place on 23 July to 8 August in Tokyo.
Jordan Wilimovsky
With his quiet resolve, voracious appetite for hard work, and unyielding focus on technique, Jordan Wilimovsky has ascended to the top of the field in the Olympic marathon swimming competition. He is currently the pre-race favorite in the 10 km event, but will he make history?
Wilimovsky, who is a Northwestern University redshirt senior, won the 10-kilometer open water event at the 2015 World Championships. He is the first American to compete in both pool and open water events at the Olympics. In college, he earned all-American honors and was an academic all-American and Big Ten selection. At the time of the interview, Wilimovsky was almost shy about his achievements.
Sean Ryan
Sean Ryan, a native of Chattanooga, TN, will represent Team USA in the men’s 10k open water swimming event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Ryan grew up in a small town on the Tennessee River, where he first took up open water swimming with the local masters team. He now aims to make his dream of competing at the Olympics come true.
The marathon swimming competition will take place on the iconic Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. The water temperature will be 72 degrees and the waves could reach 12 feet. The unpredictable element in the marathon swim event is the presence of sharks. The international swimming federation has been routinely testing the water to ensure that it is safe for athletes to compete. The swimmers will be given probiotics and antibiotics to help protect against ocean-water illnesses and bacteria.
Triple Crown of open water swimming
The Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming is the sport’s equivalent of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. A member of the Triple Crown has successfully completed all three marathon swims of the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, and the 20-bridge circumnavigation of Manhattan. In Spanish, the Triple Crown is known as the Triple Corona, while in Japanese it is called the opunuotasuiminguSan Guan. In Portuguese, it is called the Triplice Coroa.
The English Channel marathon swim is the longest of the Triple Crown and takes approximately twenty-one hours to complete. The North Channel swim is two hours and thirty-seven minutes long, and the Bristol Channel swim is a mere six minutes longer. Other famous marathon swims include the Bristol Channel, 21-mile swim across the English Channel, and the 28.5-mile swim around Manhattan Island in New York City.
