Sharon Van Rouwendaal Swims Brilliantly, Wins Olympic 10K

Sharon Van Rouwendaal Swims Brilliantly, Wins Olympic 10K

Steven Munatones 08/15/2016 Open Water Swimming No Comment
Images courtesy of NBCOlympics.com on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Sharon Van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands swam a brilliantly strategic race to win the women’s Olympic 10K Marathon Swim on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

The Dutch woman made one major surge with more than 2.5 km to go and she simply kept on going. The rest of the pack fell far behind and never had a chance at the gold.

Meantime, Poliana Okimoto of Brazil, Xin Xin of China, Aurélie Muller of France, and Rachele Bruni of Italy gave chase and were the only ones who had a realistic chance of medaling on the last lap.

Towards the end, the silver and bronze was a sprint between Muller and Bruni, but both women swam a bit wide of the finish pontoon. When Muller tried to veer inside, she swam over Bruni and was ultimately disqualified. Her disqualification lead to the bronze medal being awarded to Okimoto.

Final race results of the women’s Olympic 10K Marathon Swim are posted here.

Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association
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