Soon after the men passed the 5 km halfway mark at today’s Olympic 10K Marathon Swim on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, they started to give chase to leader Jarrod Poort of Australia.
The stroke rate and kick beat of all the swimmers in the trailing pack has turned up a significant notch.
Poort’s maximum lead was 1 minute 15 seconds. Every 100 meters, the chase group is slowly reeling the gutsy Australian in with men like Marc-Antoine Olivier of France pushing the pace. But the gap still remains significant and if Poort pulls this strategy off, it will be a tremendous upset.
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.