2025 U.S. Open Water National Championships: Women’s 10K Live Recap

2025 Open Water National/Junior National Championships

• April 4-6, 2025
• Sarasota, Florida
• Entry Lists
• Meet Central
• Livestream Information
• World Championships Selection Criteria
• National Junior Team Selection

The 2025 Open Water National Championships begin this morning in Sarasota, Florida. This event serves as the selection meet for the U.S. team heading to this summer’s World Championships in Singapore.

Today’s schedule features the women’s 10k race, which will take place at Nathan Benderson Park. Swimmers will complete five loops of the course shown below.

Course Layout

USA Swimming’s World Championship Selection Criteria

The maximum allowable team size is set at four men and four women. This means that a maximum of two men and two women will be selected to the team in each event for the World Championships (i.e., two swimmers per gender in the 5K and 10K, respectively). USA Swimming will be using the following priority system when finalizing the roster:

Priority #1: The best two finishing available swimmers from the 10K Open Water Nationals will be selected to compete in the 10K at the World Championships. However, available swimmers selected under Priority #1 must agree to swim the 10K, unless they are additionally selected under Priority #2 and instead agree to swim the 5K at the World Championships. An athlete will no longer be considered an available swimmer if they are offered positions in the 10K or 5K and do not accept at least one of those two events at the Championships. An available swimmer may choose to swim both the 5K and the 10K at the Championships.

Priority #2: The best two finishing available swimmers at the 5K Open Water Nationals will be selected to compete in the 5K at the World Championships. However, available swimmers selected under Priority #2 must agree to swim the 5K, unless they are additionally selected under Priority #1 and agree to swim the 10K at the World Championships. An athlete will no longer be considered an available swimmer if they are offered positions in the 10K or 5K and do not accept at least one of those two events at the World Championships. An available swimmer may choose to swim both the 5K and the 10K at the World Championships.

Race Recap

Through the first of five loops, Australia’s Madeleine Gough held the lead, with Americans Claire Weinstein and Mariah Denigan close behind. Weinstein represents the Sandpipers of Nevada, while Denigan trains at Indiana University.

Weinstein, best known for her speed in the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle events, is no stranger to open water swimming. On the 2023 World Cup circuit, she dominated the Funchal leg, winning by more than a minute and defeating then-defending World Champion Leonie Beck of Germany.

In September of 2023, Weinstein committed to continue her swimming career at Cal. She is expected to join the Bears in the fall of 2025.

Like Weinstein, Gough is primarily known for her pool prowess. She finished 8th in the 1500m freestyle at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but also has open water experience, highlighted by her 18th-place finish in the 10km at the 2024 World Championships in Doha.

Denigan is a clear open water specialist, having placed 8th at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, 6th in Doha, and 16th at the Paris Olympics. She was 15th in the 10k at the 2022 Budapest Worlds.

Towards the middle of the second loop, Tac Titans’ Brooke Travis and Gough created a 5-meter gap between themselves and the rest of the field. Travis had finished 6th in this event at last year’s Nationals.

Travis’ lead was short-lived, as Gough regained the top spot after about two minutes, with Weinstein soon pulling up alongside Travis to take over 2nd place. By the end of the second loop, Weinstein usurped the lead from Gough. Japan’s Ichika Kajimoto jumped from 5th to 2nd at the backstretch of the second leg, about equal with Gough once arriving at the feed station.

Kajimoto was 21st in the 10k at the aforementioned Doha World Championships, and recently swept the 400, 800, and 1500 frees at the Japanese Swimming Trials last month.

Through the third loop, Weinstein maintained her lead with Denigan making a move to secure 2nd. Kajimoto held down 3rd with Travis lurking in 4th.

Veteran Becca Mann firmly established herself in the top 5 by the end of the third loop.

Mann claimed back-to-back gold medals in the 10k at the USA Swimming Open Water Nationals in 2014 and 2015. On the international stage, she finished 8th in both the 5k and 10k events at the 2013 Barcelona World Championships. Two years later, at the 2015 edition, she placed 14th in the 10km open water and 10th in the 800 free. At the 2017 World Championships, she took 7th in the lengthy 25k event.

Not much changed during the fourth loop, aside from Gough starting to fall off the pace. Mann moved up into 4th, while Weinstein maintained the lead, followed by Denigan in 2nd and Kajimoto in 3rd.

Late into the fourth loop and early in the fifth, Denigan began to make a big move and took the lead, with Weinstein slipping to 2nd. Travis moved back into the top 3 as Kajimoto dropped to 4th. Mann slipped to 6th, while 15-year-old Brinkleigh Hansen of Saint Petersburg Aquatics, who won the 2024 World Junior title in the 5k, climbed a few spots to take over 5th.

Down the final stretch, Weinstein regained the lead, but Hansen made a big push to pull right alongside her, with Denigan doing the same. The three battled stroke for stroke for about 700 meters.

With 200 meters to go, Hansen surged ahead, pulling away decisively from both Weinstein and Denigan to open up a 5-meter lead. Weinstein made a late push with about 50 meters remaining, but Hansen had already created enough separation to hold on for the win. Weinstein secured the silver, earning one of the two World Championship spots in the event alongside Hansen.

For Weinstein, it will mark her first appearance in open water at Worlds, though she previously represented Team USA in the pool at the 2022 and 2023 championships. Denigan narrowly missed out on what would have been her fourth World Championship appearance—but she’ll have another shot to qualify later this weekend in the 5K.

Notably, three-time defending national champion Katie Grimes, who began her collegiate career with the Virginia Cavaliers in January, did not compete today. She won bronze at the 2023 World Championships before placing 15th in both Doha and Paris.

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Brinkleigh Hansen (SPA) — 2:04:09 (Qualified For U.S. World Championship Team)
2. Claire Weinstein (SAND) — 2:04:11 (Qualified For U.S. World Championship Team)
3. Mariah Denigan (IU) — 2:04:16
4. Brooke Travis (TAC) — 2:04:46
5. Misa Okuzono (JPN) — 2:04:53
6. Ichika Kajimoto (JPN) — 2:05:21
7. Becca Mann (TAC) — 2:05:22
8. Abby Dunford (CAN) — 2:05:25

Full results can be viewed here.