11 Metro Athletes Compete at Open Water Nationals

11 Metro athletes competed in the 2023 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships in Sarasota, FL. The Championships were held at Nathan Benderson Park, a venue that has hosted the World Championships, US Olympic Team Trials, and NCAA Championships for rowing. The Open Water Championships selected for the US Open Water National and Junior National teams, the 2023 World Aquatics team, Pan America Games team, and LEN Open Water Cup. Athletes from the US, Japan, Sweden, and Spain competed, including current US National team members, and past Olympic and World Championship team members.

On the first day of competition, 2022 Metro Open Water Champion Mary McKenna (Long Island Express) and Sophia Karras (Unattached-MR/Long Island Aquatic Club) competed in the National 10K, placing 26th and 21st respectively. Mckenna finished in 2:12.24 and Karras in 2:06.52.

On Day 2, James Darcy (Long Island Aquatic Club) and Samantha Anderson (Long Island Aquatic Club) competed in the Junior National 5K, placing 7th in the Men's event and 4th in the Women's respectively. They finished in 1:01.10 and 1:04.17.

On the final day of competition, McKenna placed 15th in the women's National 5K with a 1:03.38.75. Brice Barrieault, Clayton Bernauer, and Wes Tate, all from Army West Point, competed in the men's National 5K. They placed 21st, 29th, and 30th with times 59:37.27, 1:02:50.08, and 1:02:56.31 respectively.

Will Siegel (Long Island Aquatic Club), Oliver Shao (Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics), Patrick O'Hagan (Long Island Aquatic Club), and Sarah Larsen (Long Island Aquatic Club) competed in the Junior National 7.5K races. In the men's event, they placed 9th, 17th, and 18th respectively. Larsen placed 13th in the women's. Siegel finished in 1:28:55.44, Shao 1:30:00.41, O'Hagan 1:30:48.77, and Larsen 1:38:21.87.

Complete results are available below:
https://www.usaswimming.org/event/2023/04/21/default-calendar/open-water-championships