Katie Grimes Wins Women’s 10K at Open Water Nationals
Last year, Katie Grimes raced both pool and open water events at the World Championships. After she won her first international medals in the 1500 freestyle (silver behind Katie Ledecky) and 400 IM (silver behind Summer McIntosh), Grimes took fifth in the 10-kilometer race, just 8.5 seconds behind gold medalist Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands.
Now, the 17-year-old Grimes will return to the international stage in the 10K event after a win in the event at the U.S. Open Water National Championships Friday in Sarasota, Florida. Over the second half of the race, Grimes traded the lead with Sandpipers of Nevada teammate Claire Weinstein and Alabama’s Kensey McMahon, the NCAA champion in the 500-yard free and 1650-yard free last month. But on the final straightaway, Grimes pulled away to win by 15 seconds, with a final time of 1:58:08.
The battle for second came down to a photo finish, and it was Indiana’s Mariah Denigan who got to the pad in 1:28:23, just ahead of Weinstein (1:58:24) and Ashley Twichell (1:58:25). Denigan, 19, will also return to the World Championships for the 10K after a 15th-place finish last year. Spain’s Maria de Valdes ended up fifth (1:59:06), just ahead of McMahon (1:59:09).
Twichell, 35, was competing in open water for the first time since her seventh-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, Twichell gave birth to a son, Lochlan, who was on hand Friday in Sarasota to watch his mom compete.
Grimes and Denigan will race at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, this summer, with a chance to qualify to race the event at the 2024 Olympics in Tokyo. The top three finishers this year will receive Olympic qualification along with the top 13 finishers at the World Championships next February in Doha, Qatar.
Grimes will also pursue pool swimming at this year’s Worlds, with those events set to take place after open water this year. Grimes will be favored to qualify to represent the United States in the 800 and 1500 free along with the 400 IM, an event in which she swam a time of 4:31.81 last Saturday at the Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo, Calif., to become the fourth-fastest American ever.
Congratulations Katie job well done it was a joy watching you from a referee boat achieve your goal