Many Olympic pool swimming heroes and heroines, ranging from Shane Gould and Sandy Neilson-Bell to Brendan Hansen and Jim Montgomery, eventually find their way to the open water.

As masters athletes are returning their way home after the 13th FINA Masters World Championships in Sweden, FINA interviewed Jim who turned from a world-record-holding Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter freestyle to a die-hard open water enthusiast.

Jim has participated in the masters world championships since 1986 and through the years, his return is a way to meet with old friends, “It has become more of a social climate, the older you get – and I love to travel.”

After decades in the pool, Jim entered the open water world. He told FINA, “Open water swimming is my passion since probably the mid-1990s; for the last 15 years, I train more and enjoy the open water competitions. I started taking trips to Hawaii every year to do the Maui Channel Swim and the Waikiki Roughwater Swim so that’s how I got started and I started swimming more of them in the mid-90s.”

Just like millions of other people around the world – and these individuals who won their respective age-groups in the 3K FINA World Masters Championship open water race:

Female 25-29: MARIT BLÖMER, 37:43.4
Female 30-34: DANIELA LANGE, 37:21.8
Female 35-39: KIRSTEN CAMERON, 35:23.2
Female 40-44: AMANDA PICARD, 37:56.0
Female 45-49: MARIA TERESA GARCIA COLOMO, 36:58.3
Female 50-54: TANJA ENGELS, 41:14.6
Female 55-59: CRISTINA TARANTINO, 40:13.4
Female 60-64: CONNY BOER-BUIJS, 45:40.1
Female 65-69: ELAINE BLOWER, 51:50.6
Female 70-74: MARGA SCHULZE, 57:56.2
Female 75-79: LOTTIE GEURTS, 1:00:05.1

Male 25-29: CHRISTOPHER-HERMS, 36:21.1
Male 30-34: NICKY LANGE, 34:12.7
Male 35-39: VAHE OLIVIER, 35:18.8
Male 40-44: DANIEL SERRA, 34:30.5
Male 45-49: MICHAEL KLEIBER, 35:47.4
Male 50-54: MARCUS MATTIOLI, 34:40.5
Male 55-59: LARRY KRAUSER, 38:50.7
Male 60-64: GRAHAM CROFT, 40:43.6
Male 65-69: MARIO PATERNI, 44:19.7
Male 70-74: HILRICH LÜPKES, 46:47.0
Male 75-79: JOSEF KREJCI, 51:23.0
Male 80-84: GUIHO GABRIEL, 1:02:45.5

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