Ashley Twichell and Brazilian World Champion Ana Marcela were involved in a tight finish at the end of the women’s 5K at the 2019 US Open Water Nationals in Miami. Twichell came out on top in a photo finish over Marcela as Twichell qualified for World Championships in the 5K with her swim. Twichell also was the top finishing American in the 10K on Friday and will be swimming those two events in Gwangju, along with the 1500 free in the pool.
Twichell, 29, has a chance to qualify for her first Olympics this summer if she can finish in the top ten at the World Championships in the 10K. She talked to Swimming World on Friday on getting step one out of the way for the Olympics.
Joining Twichell in Gwangju in the 5K will be NC State grad Hannah Moore, who finished third overall. Moore was the third place American on Friday in the 10K but was disqualified after interfering with other swimmers in the race. She was able to rebound and secure a spot on the World Championships team this summer in the 5K.
10K runner-up Haley Anderson finished in fourth place after battling with Moore to the very last stroke. Anderson will still be off to Worlds this summer for the 10K after finishing as the second fastest American behind Twichell. Sandpipers’ Erica Sullivan was fifth place overall as she picked up a spot to swim the 25K at Worlds after her third place finish in the 10K on Friday.
Becca Mann, Mariah Denigan and Kensey McMahon finished sixth, seventh and eighth to round out the podium.
Congratulations lady’s
Wow you guys must be so proud of her. What an amazing accomplishment !