Brennan Gravley and Katie Grimes Win 5K Titles At 2023 U.S. OW Nationals

2023 U.S. OPEN WATER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 21-23, 2023
• Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota, Florida
• Open Water
• Meet Central
• World Championship Selection Procedure
• Start List
• SwimSwam Preview (Schedule included)
• Live Stream
• Full 10K Results
• Jr. 5k Results

FULL 5K RESULTS

Today is the third and final day of competition at the the 2023 U.S. Open Water Nationals in Sarasota, Florida. The men’s and women’s 5km races kicked things off this morning, with Brennan Gravley winning on the men’s side, and Katie Grimes taking the title for the women.

This race did not have any World Championship spots up for grabs, but both Gravley and Grimes locked themselves in on Friday as the top American finishers in the 10k. At the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Grimes placed 5th in the 10k event, while Gravley earned 12th.

Men’s Recap

After taking the runner-up spot in the 10k on Friday, Florida’s Brennan Gravley successfully defended his national title in the men’s 5k competition this morning. Gravley trailed Spain’s Carlos Garach for much of the race, but managed to take control as the pack headed into the finish chute.

“I got a pretty good jump on the young Spaniard, Carlos – it was a lot of fun having the Spaniards out here. He led pretty much the whole 10K and the majority of the race today. I used those last two buoys at the end of the lap, before the last long stretch, to get a jump on him. I had a couple body-length leads and he made them up. He’s a great pool swimmer but when he caught back up to me, we kind of just stuck together until the end,” Gravley said.  “That was something I did last year in Fort Myers, and it was pretty effective. It was pretty tough at the end, I’m definitely hurting a bit after hitting that sort of sprint finish, but I think it worked today.”

Behind Gravley was a scramble for second, with Tashini Minamide of Japan getting his hand on the touch pad just a hundredth of a second ahead of Ivan Puskovitch. Garach, the 10k champion, ended up 4th, while Dylan Gravley snuck in for for 5th.

Top 3 Finishers:

1. Brennan Gravley (University of Florida) – 55:10.65
2. Taishini Minamide (Japan) – 55:12.21
3. Ivan Puskovitch (TSM Aquatics) – 55:12.21

Women’s Recap

17-year-old Katie Grimes completed her open water sweep after capturing her second victory of the weekend in the 5km event. Grimes was in the front pack for the entirety of the race, but made a move on the final lap to take over and secure the victory.

“You couldn’t really even feel the wind since the water was still so flat. Conditions were good and it was a fun race, though it was a little quicker than I like it to be. It was really a good experience to swim that race because I don’t do a 5K too much, so it was fun,” Grimes said. On her two titles, she added, “It was just about getting experience. Pretty much every open water race, (experience) is what I try and get from it and take to the next race. I feel like I now have a lot of tricks under my belt that I can use next time.”

Grimes did not compete in this event at U.S. Open Water Nationals last year, instead racing in the 7.5km junior event.

The women’s field was bit more strung out compared to the men. Angela Martinez of Spain snagged the 2nd spot after holding the lead for the majority of the race, while Indiana’s Mariah Denigan finished a few seconds behind to take 3rd overall.

Top 3 Finishers:

1. Katie Grimes (Sandpipers of Nevada) – 58:37.95
2. Angela Martinez (Spain) – 58:39.99
3. Mariah Denigan (ISC) – 58:42.49

FULL RACE REPLAY (WOMEN’S & MEN’S)