KAZAN, Russia (AP) — Jordan Wilimovsky cruised to a 12.1-second victory in the 10-kilometer open water race at the world swimming championships Monday, one of 10 men to qualify for a berth in next year’s Olympics.
The 20-year-old swimmer from Malibu, California, took the lead with 3 kilometers remaining and powered through the finish chute to hit the touchpad in 1 hour, 49 minutes, 48.2 seconds. Wilimovsky pulled out to a comfortable lead heading into the final circuit on the Kazanka River under ideal conditions. There was little wind and the 70-degree F (21-degree C) water was flat on a 73-degree F (22-degree C) day.
“My strategy was to hang back for the first five kilometers, build up at the last five kilometers and have enough at the end to hopefully finish fast,” Wilimovsky said.
Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands earned silver in 1:50:00.3. Two-time 10k world champion Spyridon Gianniotis of Greece took bronze in 1:50:00.7 to earn his fifth Olympic berth at age 35.
Olympic champion Ous Mellouli of Tunisia was in the lead pack going into the last lap, but faded to 23rd and won’t defend his title next year in Rio de Janeiro. Mellouli, who finished in 1:50:50.2, strode past reporters without speaking.
Weertman said navigating the rectangular course near the white-walled Kazan Kremlin was difficult because of its sprawling size.
“The group went a little bit all in waves, so everybody was swimming against each other but that makes it a little bit more fun for us,” he said. “At the end he (Wilimovsky) was just going crazy. I tried to follow him. I got pretty close but not close enough and I’m pretty happy with my second place.”
Gianniotis and Mellouli were far back during the first half of the race. After 5 kilometers, Mellouli was in the top 10, while the Greek swimmer was 30th. Gianniotis briefly moved into second place late in the race before winding up third.
Gianniotis took pride in seeing the blue-and-white Greek flag raised at a time when his country has been plunged into economic crisis and is seeking a third international financial bailout.
“Greece is in a really bad situation,” he said. “The last two or three weeks I tried to keep very focused. It was really hard. Today I swam for my country.”
The top 10 finishers qualified for the Olympics, including fourth-place Sean Ryan of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was second behind Wilimovsky heading for the opposite side of the riverbank from the finish on the final circuit before touching fourth in 1:50:03.3.
“I was really pumped to see Jordan up there and I knew if the two of us were up that high there was a really good chance we’d both be going to Rio,” Ryan said.
He finished 50th in the 10k at worlds two years ago in Barcelona, Spain, and had yet to absorb the reality of his newly earned Olympic berth after the race.
“That will probably take a week or two,” Ryan said, laughing. “It’s just a dream come true.”
Jack Burnell of Britain was fifth, followed by Marc-Antoine Olivier of France, Simone Ruffini of Italy, Richard Weinberger of Canada, Allan Do Carmo of Brazil and Federico Vanelli of Italy.
Coming into the finish, Wilimovsky looked to his right and saw swimmers coming up and no one on his left.
“I climbed out for a couple of strokes and saw the orange finish chute and I was like, ‘I’m just going to kick for that as hard as I can,'” he said.
The chance to make the Olympics directly from Kazan drew a record 72 swimmers to the race, including Chad Ho of South Africa, who won the 5k title on Saturday.
“The first 1,000 my goggles were super foggy so I felt like I was just a pinball between people,” Ryan said.
Gergely Gyurta of Hungary, the younger brother of Olympic champion pool swimmer Daniel Gyurta, led for the first 5 kilometers but finished 13th.
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