Gravley & Barker will compete at Open Water 5k Nationals Sunday in Long Beach

Top open water swimmers to compete at the USA Swimming Open Water National Championships

6/2/2010

The top open water swimmers in the U.S. will compete at the 2010 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships, June 4 and 6 in Long Beach, Calif. The competition includes both a 5K and 10K race, and will serve as the selection meet for the 2010 FINA Open Water World Championships and the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships.
 
A talented field of swimmers will compete in the 10K event on Saturday, June 4, including 2008 Olympian Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo, Calif.), Open Water World Championship silver medalist Andrew Gemmell (Wilmington, Del.), and 2007 Pan American gold medalist and 2009 World Championship bronze medalist Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.).
 
The field in Long Beach will also include Open Water National Team members Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky.), Joe Kinderwarter (Lancaster, Pa.), Eva Fabian (Keene, N.H.), Christine Jennings (Longmont, Colo.), Deni Cullom (Dana Point, Calif.), Alex Meyer (Ithaca, N.Y.), and Sean Ryan (Hixon, Tenn.). 2005 Open Water World Championship gold medalist Chip Peterson (Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.) and 2009 World Championship Team member Haley Anderson (Granite Bay, Calif.) will also compete in the event.
 
The weekend of open water swimming at the Long Beach Marine Stadium will include a variety of unique features such as spectator boats for coaches, parents and fans as well as five pre-race clinics for swimmers of any age and ability. In addition, world-class swimmers from Canada, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Egypt and South Africa will also compete in the open water swim.
 
The 10K race will take place on June 4, while the 5K competition will be on June 6. Only the 10K swim will serve as the qualifying race to earn a spot on the 2010 U.S. World Championship Team and the 2010 U.S. Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships Team.
 
The top two U.S. finishers in the 10K will automatically earn a spot to compete in the event at the FINA World Championships in Roberval, Québec, Canada, July 17-22, and will also have a choice to compete in the 5K and 25K, or both. The remaining spots on the U.S. Open Water World Championship Team will be filled with the remaining top finishers in the 10K race, however, swimmers must finish in the top six U.S. swimmers and they cannot finish more than 20 minutes after the first place finisher. Additional details outlining the selection procedures can be found online.
 
The top four U.S. finishers in the 10K in Long Beach will also have the opportunity to earn a spot to compete in the 10K at the Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif., on August 22. Selection procedures from the meet can be found online.