In open water swimming there are some stand out races for sure. The Midmar Mile in South Africa, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the La Jolla Rough Water Swim, the Manhattan Marathon Swim, and Chicago’s Big Shoulders are just a small number of great races. But there’s only one race in the USA that has, $10,000 in prize money for both the men and women – the RCP Tiburon Mile.
Robert Placak started the RCP Tiburon Mile in 1999, and since then, swimmers gather from all over to world to compete for the $10,000 prize. The race consists of 1 nautical mile of swimming from San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island to Tiburon, and the top male and female each take home the cash prize.
This morning, 55 swimmers competed in the race. On the men’s side, Mateusz Sawrymowicz, a polish swimmer currently residing in Los Angeles, California, took home the win in the men’s elite division. Sawrymowicz was the only swimmer to break the 24 minute mark, running through the finish line at 23:46. This was his first time winning the RCP Tiburon mile. Sawrymowicz was the 2007 world champion in the 1500 meter freestyle. Finishing in second place was Oussama Mellouli, who crossed the line with a time of 24:02. Mellouli was the 2008 Olympic Champion and 2009 World Champion in the 1500 meter freestyle. Kane Radford finished in third with a time of 24:20. Radford is a three time champion of the RCP Tiburon Mile, winning the event in 2009, 2011, and 2012.
On the women’s side, Ashley Twichell took home the prize, winning the event in 25:09. Twichell won the women’s 10K race at this summers World University Games. The second place finisher was Haley Anderson, crossing the finish line in 25:25. Anderson was the 2012 Olympic Silver medalist in the 10K and the 2013 World Champion in the 5k. Keri-Anne Payne finished third, only a second behind Haley Anderson, posting a final time of 25:26. Payne is a two time World Champion from Great Britain in the open water 10K, and Olympic silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics in the same event.
All three of these women would have place 9th, 10th, and 11th in the men’s elite division of this years race.
Any reports on the water temperature for this race?
We got a reading of 62 – according to some we talked to was just plain “Cold”. But the atmosphere was warm and super fun – get in on this race in 2014 if you can!