Katie Grimes, Brennan Gravley Add 5K Titles at Open Water Nationals
Two days after racing the 10-kilometer swim in the all-important World Championships qualifying race, Katie Grimes and Brennan Gravley were both back on the course at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla., for the 5K race. With their bids for Fukuoka already secured, both Sandpipers of Nevada products secured wins over half the distance.
Grimes finished first among the 24 swimmers in the women’s race in 58:37.95, two seconds clear of Spain’s Angela Martinez (58:39.99). Mariah Denigan, the Indiana swimmer already qualified to join Grimes in the 10K at Worlds, took third in 58:42.49, while Alabama’s Kensey McMahon (58:51.94) and Spain’s Maria de Valdes (58:52.46) rounded out the top five.
Gravley, now competing for the University of Florida, emerged victorious in the men’s race in 55:10.65, a second-and-a-half clear of a photo finish between for the remaining spots in the top five. Japan’s Taishini Minamide (55:12.21) ended up in second ahead of Santa Monica’s Ivan Puskovitch (55:12.22), Spain’s Carlos Garach (55:12.96) and Sun Devil’s Dylan Gravley (55:12.98). Dylan Gravley, the younger brother of Brennan, will complete a sibling duo in the 10K at Worlds after the duo went 2-3 behind Garach in Friday’s 10K to secure the American spots.
After the 5K was complete, the Open Water National Championships concluded with the Junior 7.5K, and the women’s event went to Claire Weinstein, yet another Sandpipers swimmer. Weinstein, third in the 10K Friday and a member of the U.S. World Championships team last year, hit the pad in 1:34:00.42. NOVA of Virginia’s Claire Stuhlmacher finished 16 seconds behind in 1:34:16.56, and the remainder of the top five included Sarasota Sharks’ Lolly Milbaum (1:34:38.41), Sandpipers’ Sianna Savarda (1:35:08.70) and South Florida’s Izzy Wilson (1:35:10.19).
Laker Swim’s Ryan Erisman, the runnerup in the Junior 5K race Saturday, took first in the men’s Junior 7.5K in 1:26:12.04. Fishers Area’s Luke Whitlock was second (1:26:29.88), while Peddie’s Luke Brennan touched out Sandpipers’ Gabriel Manteufel for third, 1:26:37.55 to 1:26:37.79. Nation’s Capital’s Charlie Greenwood took fifth (1:26:40.87).
Results from the 5K can be found here, and results from the Junior 7.5K are here.