Wilimovsky, Twichell Headline U.S. Open Water Nationals

2018 U.S. Open Water National Championships

• Friday, May 4 – Sunday, May 6
• Town Lake, Tempe, Arizona
• Meet Central
• Meet Info
• Start Lists
• Course Map
• Open Water World Junior Selection

The 2018 U.S. Open Water National Championships will take place in Tempe, Arizona this weekend, with the athletes competing in Town Lake.

This is a major change after the championships have recently been at either Castaic Lake in California or Miromar Lakes in Florida. The move to Tempe was announced at the end of 2017.

Along with the Open Water National 10K and 5K events, we’ll also see the Junior National events contested in the 5K and 7.5K. Check out the schedule of events below:

• Friday: Men’s and Women’s National 10K
• Saturday: Men’s and Women’s Junior National 5K
• Sunday: Men’s and Women’s National 5K
• Sunday: Men’s and Women’s Junior National 7.5K

2017 champions Jordan Wilimovsky and Ashley Twichell will both return to defend their 10K titles, while Haley Anderson and David Heron will do the same in the 5K. Wilimovsky will only race the 10K, but the other three will swim both distances.

Other notable names in action for the men include Austrian Olympian Felix Auboeck, the two-time NCAA runner-up in the 1650, 2017 U.S. National champ in the 1500 True Sweetser, noted open water specialists Brendan Casey and Taylor Abbott, along with Canadian Eric Hedlin. In addition to Twichell and Anderson, the women’s side will include Becca Mann, Katy Campbell, and last year’s 5K junior national winner Erica Sullivan.

This year’s Open Water Nationals is an open event, with swimmers from Austria, Mexico, and Canada also participating.

The 10K event will serve as the qualifier for the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, while the 2018 FINA Open Water Junior Worlds team will be determined across all three distances.