Haley Anderson Sixth, Ashley Twichell Seventh in Olympic Games Open Water 10K

 USA Swimming Event Medal Count at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
USA	11	10	9	30

 

Women’s 10k Open Water – Final

Gold: Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), 1:59:30.8
Silver: Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED), 1:59:31.7
Bronze: Kareena Lee (AUS), 1:59:32.5
6. Haley Anderson (Granite Bay, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores), 1:59:36.9

7. Ashley Twichell (Fayetteville, N.Y./TAC Titans), 1:59:37.9

 

Race Notes

• The 10k race marked Anderson’s third Olympic Games appearance and Twichell’s first.
• The U.S. was one of only two countries with two swimmers in the race.
• Twichell was top-3 through the first six of seven laps of the race.  
• Anderson and Twichell swam with the leaders throughout most of the race, finishing just 6.1 and 7.1 seconds off the leader. Twichell was more than 30 seconds ahead of the eight-place finisher.
• Anderson was the silver medalist in this event at the 2012 London Olympic Games and finished 5^th at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
• U.S. men’s swimmer Jordan Wilimovsky will compete in the open water 10K at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, August 4. 

 

Quotes

Haley Anderson (on the conditions): “Ya, well, we knew coming in that it was going to be pretty warm, and, well, it is what it is. Everyone was dealing with the same conditions, but it’s nice that we had some clouds, that definitely helped. The U.S. [heat limit] is a little different than the FINA limit but, umm, ya, it was within range, and we definitely tried to prepare as well as we could for the heat and the weather and try to put ourselves in a good position coming in.”

 

Anderson (on the race): “Ya, it was a pretty tough race. I mean, umm, all those girls are competitive every single day, so you never really know who is going to be at the top it always changes, it’s pretty much the same handful of girls. Today just wasn’t my day but it was a great race and I was up there until the end, so I’m really happy with how it turned out.

 

Anderson (on Twichell): “Ya, I was really excited. I saw her up there the whole time, and, she looked great, and that last lap was pretty tough, but I was so excited for her to be here. To qualify together was something I’ve wanted for a really long time for her and she has helped me so much over the years. We’ve done some training camps together and trained a lot together and race all the time so, to be here with her was really exciting.”

 

Anderson (on racing at the Olympic Games): “I mean, each go around is always different. Rio was different than London, this is different than Rio and London. So, every race, even if it’s in the same spot, is different. So that’s what makes open water [swimming] really exciting, is really the unknown and all the variables and all the preparation that goes into it. Every race is tough, mentally and physically, and you really have to be on 100 percent on race day.”

 

Ashley Twichell (on race strategy): “In the back end of the first lap, I got caught right in the middle of a pack, and from then, I knew that’s not where I wanted to be for the race. So I found myself in the lead, that’s where I’m most comfortable swimming open water, that’s where I’ve always been most comfortable. I felt really strong. I knew there was a big pack behind me for most of the way, and that last lap, I knew there were seven of us, and it was tough. It was great to see Haley right there, too. Of course, I would have loved to have medaled, but I’m proud of the fight I had out there today.”

 

Twichell (on the conditions): “Yeah, it was warm, but I really didn’t notice it. I feel like I do pretty well in the heat. Haley and I did a heat acclimation camp out in California in April, so I think we both felt comfortable in those conditions I just tried to really hydrate before and during, and we had a great team behind us, helping us through the heat aspect of it, so I really feel like that didn’t bother me too much.