It has taken awhile, but promising Sean Ryan of Chattanooga, Tennessee now claimed victory at a USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships. A young pup when he first started open water, he is now on a roll, first qualifying for the World Swimming Championships in the 10K and now winning the USA Swimming National 5K Championships.
Likewise, Ashley Twichell of New York (shown above) won her first national open water championship.
Ashley put on a final spurt to beat Christine Jennings and the rest of the women’s field, only a few days after just missing qualifying for the World Swimming Championships in the 10K.
Sean won by taking it out strongly and never looking back with a time of 53:11.79 over Chip Peterson (54:42.73) and Ryan Feeley (54:43.29). “I really wanted to get out ahead from the start and take it around the first turn. Once I saw that I had a break between myself and everyone else I knew I couldn’t slow down and I had to continue my lead.”
While Sean was clearly the victor from start to finish, there was a trio of contenders among the women. Ashley exchanged the lead with Christine and 13-year old Becca Mann of Florida. Towards the end, however, Ashley pulled away over the final 400 meters with Becca in second and Christine in third. “My strategy worked well today. I wanted to stay strong for about three-quarters of the race then pick up and try to break away.”
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.