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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
After a lengthy review, Claire Stuhlmacher was crowned world junior champion in the girls’ 10km last week in the Italian city of Sardinia at the World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships.
Stuhlmacher, 17, emerged atop the tightly bunched field after 129 minutes of racing, registering a final time of 2:09:15.90, just three-tenths clear of Italian Chiara Sanzullo (2:09:16.30).
After sitting back in the pack through the first four laps, Stuhlmacher made her move on the fifth lap and held the lead entering the sixth and final one. The Nova of Virginia Aquatics product held the lead throughout the majority of the sixth lap, and although Sanzullo and Greece’s Georgia Makri came up alongside her down the final stretch, Stuhlmacher got her hand on the touchpad first.
The top five finishers in the race were repeated by less than two seconds.
Girls’ Open Water 10km Results
- Claire Stuhlmacher (USA), 2:09:15.90
- Chiara Sanzullo (ITA), 2:09:16.30
- Georgia Makri (GRE), 2:09:16.60
- Misa Okuzono (JPN), 2:09:17.30
- Vivien Nett (HUN), 2:09:17.60
Who touched home first?
🇮🇹 Chiara Sanzullo 🆚🇺🇸 Claire Stuhlmacher #openwater #swimming pic.twitter.com/hsesbOlowa— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) September 5, 2024
For Stuhlmacher, the victory came after she was fourth in the girls’ 7.5 km event at the 2022 edition of Open Water World Juniors in the Seychelles, five seconds shy of the podium.
“It was a little nervewracking going in,” Stuhlmacher said post-race, according to World Aquatics.
“I didn’t know how this would go. I got fourth two years ago in the Seychelles, so toward the end today, I just took off. I just had that extra sense of motivation; I kept telling myself, ‘You have to medal this time.’ It really was internal motivation, pushing myself to the finish, that made the difference.”
The United States would go on to sweep the female events at World Juniors, with 14-year-old Brinkleigh Hansen winning the 5 km and 17-year-old Claire Weinstein claiming the 7.5 km.
The American women pulled off the gold medal SWEEP at @WorldAquatics Open Water Junior Championships 🔥📈
5K 🥇: Brinkleigh Hansen
7.5K 🥇: Claire Weinstein
10K 🥇: Claire Stuhlmacher(📸: fabioswim / IG) pic.twitter.com/YGhv4M7gFt
— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) September 6, 2024
Stuhlmacher added a silver medal at the competition as a member of the American mixed 4×1500 relay.
After initially committing to Navy, Stuhlmacher changed her decision last September, committing to Indiana where she’ll begin her collegiate career this fall.
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What a wild finish!