Stuhlmacher Claims 10k Gold To Kick Off Open Water Junior World Championships

2024 WORLD AQUATICS OPEN WATER JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, September 5th – Sunday, September 8th
• Alghero, Sardinia, Italy
• Open Water
• SwimSwam Preview
• Start Lists/Results

The boys’ and girls’ 10k races kicked off the 2024 World Aquatics Open Water Junior World Championships in Italy today.

The United States saw Claire Stuhlmacher touch the time pad first in a thrilling battle to the finish for the girls, where a trio of athletes finished just over half a second apart.

Stuhlmacher from NOVA of Virginia Aquatics ultimately got the touch in 2:09:15.90 to hold off Chiara Sanzullo of the host nation who earned silver in 2:09:16.20. Greece’s Georgia Makri rounded out the podium just a hair behind in 2:09:16.60.

On her performance, Stuhlmacher told USA Swimming, “The other two girls passed me right before the finish, and I told myself to stay in the top three.

“Then I told myself, ‘No, you just led this last lap. You can’t just get top three.’ So, I fought hard until I hit the touchpad.”

2 years ago, Stuhlmacher placed 4th in the 7.5k event and spoke on her improvement to gold this time around.

“This is only my fourth 10k ever, and it’s a different race than the 7.5k.

“In the 7.5k two years ago I was alone for a lot of it, up until the last lap. In this race, it was more of a pack, so I had people to work with. I felt a lot more teamwork was going on with all of the girls. We all swam together pretty well.”

Stuhlmacher’s American teammate Sianna Savarda of the Sandpipers of Nevada placed 21st overall.

The boys’ 10k was won by France’s Sacha Velly who scored the sole time of the field under the 2:00 barrier in 1:59:44.20.

Poland’s Piotr Wozniak was next to the timepad in 2:00:13.60 and Italy’s Vincenzo Caso bagged the bronze in 2:00:15.80.

The top-placed American male was Ryan Erisman of Laker Swim who finished 21st while teammate Luke Ellis did not finish the event.