15-year-old Becca Mann swam over 3 hours against the toughest fields in American female open water swimming history…and came within 3.2 seconds of winning both races.

In today’s 5 km sprint in rough water conditions, Mann lost to Haley Anderson 1:00:36.51 vs. 1:00:38.04. In Friday’s 10 km marathon, she lost to Christine Jennings 2:02:14.33 to 2:02:16.06.

Stroke-for-stroke, shoulder-to-shoulder, the Clearwater, Florida swimmer kept her composure throughout the tactical races. She clearly has a mental aptitude for the sport and her physical skills are without question as the high school freshman now turns her sights to the pool.

“I going to go back to the pool and train for the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyles at the [USA Swimming] World Championship [pool] qualifiers. I am also looking at the 400 IM and 200 butterfly. I really like swimming more events, not just one. I recover pretty well and like them all.”

She acknowledges her advantage with the profound wisdom of an experienced, well-spoken veteran. “I am still young, but last week, I was really tired. I was at a pool competition, but then just started to relax for about 5 days [leading up to the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships]. I was doing some hard training, but just needed to relax.

And I really like the energy of this venue [Castaic Lake]. I really liked both races [the 5 km and 10 km]. The weather is great, the water is warm, the surrounding mountains are pretty. It really is just perfect.”

Spoken like an athlete with a clear path to success.

Photo of Becca Mann taken minutes after the tough 5 km race was over with an untouched gel pack still tucked under her swimsuit on her right leg. “I didn’t need to take it.”

Copyright © 2013 by World Open Water Swimming Association