Tiburon, California – The RCP Tiburon Mile, the fastest open water swim competition in the world, took place on Sunday, September 20, 2015. Many swimmers came to Tiburon, California in the waters of The Raccoon Strait on Sunday and competed for the win. This open water swim also included many Olympic, World Champions, and international swimmers from Russia, Australia, Germany, and Hawaii.
Originally, the RCP Tiburon Mile included age group and wet suit swimmers along with the elites. But this year Placak made the decision to cancel the age group and wet suit event because of the dangerous currents that were pushing swimmers out of the race during their swim test. The currents that were causing this problem are called “Ebb Tides-” the flow of water away from the shore- which were unusually strong and caused great concern. “While 80% of you feel that you may have been likely to finish this race safely, there were 20% of you that would not have been able to. Not knowing who these 20% are created a great deal of concern and resulted in the decision that we made,” said Placak to validate his difficult decision. Though the age group and wet suit swimmers had their event cancelled, the race went on for the elite swimmers.
In the female category, many elite swimmers competed for the win. United States National Team swimmer Ashley Twichell, from Apex, North Carolina, came in first with the time of 22:40, barely out-touching fellow National-Teamer Becca Mann, from Homer Glen, Illinois, with the time of 22:41. Third place went to 2008 Olympic silver medalist Keri-Anne Payne, from Scotland, with the time of 22:48.
| Watch | Place | Time | Bib # | Name | Residence | Category | Category Place | Gender Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 22:40 | 67 | Ashley Twichell | Apex, NC, USA | F:ELITE | 1/26 | 1/26 | |
| 5 | 22:41 | 31 | Becca Mann | Homer Glen, IL, US | F:ELITE | 2/26 | 2/26 | |
| 7 | 22:48 | 37 | Keri-Anne Payne | Edinburgh, GB | F:ELITE | 3/26 | 3/26 | |
| 9 | 23:23 | 66 | Tristin Baxter | Los Angeles, CA, USA | F:ELITE | 4/26 | 4/26 | |
| 10 | 23:25 | 38 | Stephanie Peacock | Cape Coral, FL, US | F:ELITE | 5/26 | 5/26 | |
| 11 | 23:57 | 29 | Christine Jennings | Boulder, CO, US | F:ELITE | 6/26 | 6/26 | |
| 21 | 25:42 | 156 | Savannah DuPuis | San Clemente, CA, US | F:ELITE | 7/26 | 7/26 | |
| 24 | 26:22 | 232 | Samantha Nassif | Laguna Hills, CA, US | F:ELITE | 8/26 | 8/26 | |
| 25 | 26:25 | 57 | Brigitte Winkler | Tiburon, CA, US | F:ELITE | 9/26 | 9/26 | |
| 27 | 26:57 | 301 | Claire Therien | Danville, CA, US | F:ELITE | 10/26 | 10/26 |
In the male category, many elite men competed to win as well, but only the time of 25:18, held by Charlie Rimkus, made it into the top ten elite male swimmers. Coming in first was defending 10km World Champion Jordan Wilimovsky, from Malibu, California, with the time of 22:00, followed closely by Chip Peterson, from Durham, North Carolina, with the time 22:06, then by Brendan Casey, from Santa Monica, California, the the time of 22:18.
| Watch | Place | Time | Bib # | Name | Residence | Category | Category Place | Gender Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22:00 | 56 | Jordan Wilimovsky | Malibu, CA, US | M:ELITE | 1/35 | 1/35 | |
| 2 | 22:06 | 39 | Chip Peterson | Durham, NC, US | M:ELITE | 2/35 | 2/35 | |
| 3 | 22:18 | 17 | Brendan Casey | Santa Monica, CA, US | M:ELITE | 3/35 | 3/35 | |
| 6 | 22:43 | 50 | Michael Sheil | Thornlands, AC, AU | M:ELITE | 4/35 | 4/35 | |
| 8 | 22:49 | 36 | Dan Connor | Syracuse, NY, US | M:ELITE | 5/35 | 5/35 | |
| 12 | 24:10 | 13 | Ben Brewer | Santa Barbara, CA, US | M:ELITE | 6/35 | 6/35 | |
| 13 | 24:22 | 35 | Eric Nilsson | Weston, ME, US | M:ELITE | 7/35 | 7/35 | |
| 14 | 24:33 | 199 | Austin Jones | Mission Viejo, CA, US | M:ELITE | 8/35 | 8/35 | |
| 15 | 25:01 | 46 | Hanno Rosner | Campbell, CA, US | M:ELITE | 9/35 | 9/35 | |
| 16 | 25:18 | 45 | Charlie Rimkus | San Francisco, CA, US |
All together, six male swimmers and 4 female swimmers made the top ten leader board, all coming within second of each other. Coming in first was 2016 Olympic qualifier Jordan Wilimovsky, followed by Chip Peterson, then Brendan Casey, but Ashley Twichell came is fourth, putting the females on the overall leaderboard.
| Watch | Place | Time | Bib # | Name | Residence | Category | Category Place | Gender Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22:00 | 56 | Jordan Wilimovsky | Malibu, CA, US | M:ELITE | 1/35 | 1/35 | |
| 2 | 22:06 | 39 | Chip Peterson | Durham, NC, US | M:ELITE | 2/35 | 2/35 | |
| 3 | 22:18 | 17 | Brendan Casey | Santa Monica, CA, US | M:ELITE | 3/35 | 3/35 | |
| 4 | 22:40 | 67 | Ashley Twichell | Apex, NC, USA | F:ELITE | 1/26 | 1/26 | |
| 5 | 22:41 | 31 | Becca Mann | Homer Glen, IL, US | F:ELITE | 2/26 | 2/26 | |
| 6 | 22:43 | 50 | Michael Sheil | Thornlands, AC, AU | M:ELITE | 4/35 | 4/35 | |
| 7 | 22:48 | 37 | Keri-Anne Payne | Edinburgh, GB | F:ELITE | 3/26 | 3/26 | |
| 8 | 22:49 | 36 | Dan Connor | Syracuse, NY, US | M:ELITE | 5/35 | 5/35 | |
| 9 | 23:23 | 66 | Tristin Baxter | Los Angeles, CA, USA | F:ELITE | 4/26 | 4/26 | |
| 10 | 23:25 | 38 | Stephanie Peacock | Cape Coral, FL, US | F:ELITE | 5/26 | 5/26 |
Click here for the full results.
References