Haley Anderson Continues Hot Streak, Wins 10K in Cozumel

Read men’s race recap here.

After winning the 5K and finishing second in the 10k race at the United States National Championships last weekend, American Haley Anderson remained hot by winning the 4th stop of the 2015 FINA 10K Open Water World Cup in Cozumel, Mexico on Saturday.

In the process, Anderson beat 2nd-place finisher Ana Marcela da Cunha (1:48:04.00) by three seconds. Cunha was the silver medalist in this distance at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships. Italy’s Aurora Ponsell (1:48:05.00) placed 3rd.

The course remained fast in the women’s race, with Anderson’s winning time of 1:48:01.00 being good enough to win most men’s 10km races, indicating either a favorable current or a short course.

For her efforts, Anderson took home the $2,500 first prize, but there were many swimmers at this race who were swimming for more significant awards: specifically spots at the World Championships.

Australian Selection

Unlike on the men’s side, where there was a slight upset, Chelsea Gubecka came through for the Australian women in 1:48:07.02 for 7th place and as the top Australian finisher.

With the Australians only sending one swimmer to the World Championships in open water for men and women, Gubecka sealed up that spot (later confirmed by Australia).

She finished as the last swimmer in the lead pack, but was still well ahead of the second-best Australian Kareena Lee, who swam a 1:48:42.00. Melissa Gorman, the third Australian to qualify for Cozumel based on her performance at the Swim the Swan event in February, was only 29th and more than three minutes behind Gubecka.

British Selection

The Brits will select two swimmers from the combined results of the BHP Billiton event in February and the Cozumel Grand Prix to represent them in the 10k in Kazan at the World Championships, and those selections will come by coaches’ discretion.

It would be hard for that discretion to turn away Keri-Anne Payne, who both was 2nd overall BHP race in Australia (and top Brit) and was the top-finishing British swimmer in Cozumel, though her result wasn’t great. Payne took 19th place overall in 1:48:52.00, which was 51-seconds back of the winner Anderson.

Things will get tricky for the second selection, however. On Saturday in Cozumel, Alice Dearing took 25th in 1:52:59.01 and Danielle Huskisson took 40th in 1:54:13.00, but their relative finish order is the opposite of what happened in January at the BHP meet. That leaves a difficult discretionary decision for the British coaching staff, but expect them to make that decision this week.

Brazilian Women, Unlike Men, Already Selected

Unlike on the men’s side, the Brazilians have already declared their open water swimmers for this year’s World Championship meets. Da Cunha and 6th-place finisher Poliana Okimoto (1:48:07.01 – 6 seconds behind Anderson) will go to the World Championships, while Caroline Bilich (24th place – 1:51:26.00) will go to the Pan American Games and swim double duty in pool and open water.

Other Notes

• Besides Anderson, there were two other Americans in this race. Christine Jennings took 22nd in 1:49:56.00 and Emily Brunemann was 30th in 1:51:37.03.
• The Hungarians performed very well with three finishers in the top 9: Anna Olasz in 4th, Eva Risztov in 8th, and Nikolett Kiss in 9th.
• Just like the men’s race, the points leaders weren’t present in Cozumel, including Kristel Kobrich, for whom it would’ve been a short trip from her native Chile. Anna Olasz, mentioned above as the 4th-place finisher, came in to the event tied for 3rd and should move up into 2nd-place. Italy’s Rachelle Bruni, having won the tour’s first two stops, will still lead the overall points standings. Anderson’s win moves her into a tie for 3rd as no swimmer has scored in more than two of the four tour stops coming into Cozumel.

Final Results