An untimely disqualification on first finisher Andrew Gemmell pushed Dutch swimmer Ferry Weertman to the top of the standings in the men’s 10K at the 2016 U.S. Open Water Nationals.
(*Update: USA Swimming has overturned Gemmell’s DQ and reinstated him as national champion. You can read more about it here.)
Gemmell originally finished the race as the unofficial national champion, but a tweet from USA Swimming Live suggested he may have been disqualified for a time chip falling off during his race. The full saga as told by the USA Swimming twitter account:
.@ADGemmell is your unofficial winner! #OWNats pic.twitter.com/bfWPoMIA09
— USA Swimming Live (@USASwimLive) April 8, 2016
.@ADGemmell may have been disqualified for a time chip falling off during his race. Update to come soon. #OWNats
— USA Swimming Live (@USASwimLive) April 8, 2016
The officials ruling is final. Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands is the official winner of the men's 10K. #OWNats pic.twitter.com/OaQpbOrWWp
— USA Swimming Live (@USASwimLive) April 8, 2016
Weertman was the silver medalist at last summer’s World Championships, and won this race in 1:53:55.111, just four tenths ahead of Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli (1:53:55.569). Mellouli, competing for Mission Viejo, is the reigning Olympic champ in the event.
The top American finisher was Alex Meyer of Tennessee Aquatics at 1:53:57.401. Meyer also finished 3rd at Open Water Nationals last year, missing a shot at an Olympic berth by just a few thousandths of a second. Sean Ryan, who beat out Meyer for that spot in 2015, was 8th overall in 1:54:12.252.
You can view the full finish order below:
Can someone explain why the open water Olympic qualifying spots are determined a full year before the Olympics (technically, 18 months as you had to qualify for the World championships at last year’s US nationals)? Do open water swimmers need a full year to taper for the Olympics or something?
Swimstroke – it has to do with FINA’s qualifying criteria more than USA Swimming’s. FINA used 2015 Worlds as its first round of qualifying, with a few last-minute spots available in a race later this year to nations that don’t have any qualifiers yet. In a way, that system is fairly similar to how FINA selects relays in pool swimming as well.
I hope olympic qualifying was not at stake here. If so maybe he can be saved. 🙂
Hank – it was not. All American spots for the Olympics were handed out last year at the World Championships.
They make it very clear in the briefing that you must finish with both chips and if you lose one you MUST get a replacement from the boat, they let you apply as much tape over the chip as you want. Obviously he didn’t take all the precautions. it is a silly mistake regardless.
I still can’t wrap my head around the fact a swimmer from another country can swim in and even win USA Nationals. Shouldn’t it be for our swimmers?
I spoke to Sid off-line. Professionally he thinks the dq is a joke. He’s reluctant to be public about it towards his fellow officials.
Can someone please explain how this DQ can be valid? It begs the question of why even have course judges and officials. If he clearly stayed on course and the officials viewed the entire race, why can’t an electronic timer falling off be grounds for a DQ?
See above
Requesting a Sid Cassidy interview to explain what the heck just happened
Where can I find results for all participants?
asdf – they should make their way to the USA Swimming site eventually. We’ll be updating with links when we have them, too.