Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Christine Jennings hung tough with Poliana Okimoto who led each of her 3 legs of the King and Queen of the Sea (Rei e Rainha do Mar) race on Copacabana Beach. Jennings finished second in her second and third legs which put her American teammate Chip Peterson in great position to win the 5th King and Queen of the Sea. And that Peterson did.

On each of his legs, Peterson had to claw his way around Team Brazil’s Allan do Carmo, but on the final leg, Peterson threw in a fast closing sprint to surprise the field and shock the national Brazilian live television audience.

“Chip really swam fast over the last 100 meters,” said Chad Ho who anchored Team South Africa to third place.

Team USA finished in 37:44, followed by Team Germany (Angela Maurer + Christian Reichert in 37:47), Team South Africa (Michele Weber + Chad Ho in 37:48.09), Team Italy (Alice Franco + Matteo Furlan in 37:49), Team Brazil yellow (Poliana Okimoto + Allen do Carmo in 37:50.29), and Team Brazil green (Betina Lorscheitter + Samuel de Bona in 37:50.71).

With Peterson’s sprint, Team USA won both the 1 km grid race on Friday and the 6 km King and Queen of the Sea, upsetting the favored home team of Brazil:

Results:
1. Team USA (Christine Jennings + Chip Peterson) 37:44
2. Team Germany (Angela Maurer + Christine Reichert) 37:47
3. Team South Africa (Michele Weber + Chad Ho) 37:48.09
4. Team Italy (Alice Franco + Matteo Furlan) 37:49
5. Team Brazil yellow (Poliana Okimoto + Allen do Carmo) 37:50.29
5. Team Brazil green (Betina Lorscheitter + Samuel de Bona) 37:50.71

TV Globo coverage of the event is here.

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