Kaoru Yamanaka Wins Japan Masters Open Water Swim
“It was a little cold and very rough in the middle of the course,” said 25-year-old Kaoru Yamanaka of Tokyo who won the International Masters Open Water Swim in Yumigahara Beach in Shizuoka, Japan. Fresh off of her second-place finish in the Japan National Open Water Swimming Championships where her goggles were kicked off early in the race and she swam nearly the entire race without goggles, Yamanaka has proven she can deal with adversity. Humble as can be, she said, “My pace was not that fast“.
But her 34:39 time over the 3 km triangular course was 3 minutes ahead of the first man and plenty more over the rest of the field. “The waves were pretty tough and it was a new experience for me,” commented Glen Christiansen (pictured with Yamanaka). “The water was beautifully clear, but the ocean swells [from the remnants of the typhoon] made it tough.”
“We were quite worried that the swim would have to be cancelled because of the typhoon coming up from the south,” explained race director Yutaka Shinozaki. “We had to also cancel last week’s open water swim in Osaka, so we didn’t want to have to cancel this race too due to the conditions. But the typhoon turned and it turned out to be a beautiful day. But it caused the water temperature to drop and the ocean swells were pretty big as they came into the mouth of the bay. That made the back side of the course pretty rough. But this is open water.
Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming
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.
Latest posts by Steven Munatones (see all)
- Quinn Boyle Wants to Help the People of Tonga - 01/27/2022
- Do Women Find Male Swimmers Attractive? - 01/27/2022
- Canine Rescue In Malibu, California - 01/27/2022