Team USA at Open Water World Cup in Argentina – Brunemann reports

The FINA world cup open water swimming excitement continues in South America with this weekend’s stop in Viedma Argentina. Many on this weekend’s start list competed last weekend in Santos Brazil. A strong continent from Team USA will be racing; Alex Meyer, Emily Brunemann, and Christine Jennings.

Here’s an update from Emily:

“First of all thank you for allowing the rest of the swimming community keep up with the progress of the open water family!  It was amazing having so many swimmers from the US at the Santos race.  I think we are really showing the world that we are a country to keep an eye on, while allowing us to gain more experience and continue to improve.  Open water swimming is so different in the fact that anything can happen in a race.  A swimmer has to be prepared for anything.  During the Santos race I decided to take a different path than the rest of the field.  I was battling a lot for a position to draft and felt I was either wasting energy battling or I could go on my own and follow the lead boat.  It was a risky decision but I was feeling good and went with it.  I was very happy with how it turned out and proud of the rest of the US for getting 4 girls in the top ten of a very competitive field.

The Argentina race will be a little different.  The currents are extremely strong and more strategy goes into play because you have to use the currents to your advantage.  I learned that very well yesterday in the sprint event.  It reminded me of Tiburon everyone was taking a different line.  I chose the wrong line and ended up forth.  The nice thing about the 10k is you can adjust on the next loop if you realize you make the wrong decision on the loop before.  This was not the case with the one mile as it is less than one loop.  The field for Viedma is a bit smaller however still has very strong competitors including the Olympic Gold Medalist Eva Ristov who won the sprint event.  I am really looking forward to the race tomorrow evening.  It is a great opportunity to learn more about currents and work on racing some of the best in the world!”