Sharon van Rouwendaal (33, Netherlands, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here, @svrouwendaal) is – and will forever be – the most decorated Olympic marathon swimmer in history with a gold medal from the 2016 Rio Olympics, a silver medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and a second gold medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 4-time Dutch Olympic swimmer (who also competed in the 200m backstroke, 400m medley relay, and 400m freestyle in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympics) was the special guest of honor at today’s annual Naples Island Swims in Long Beach in Southern California.

Before the 500-yard, 1-mile, and 3-mile races today, Van Rouwendaal spoke briefly about her career and training under French coach Philippe Lucas and German coach Bernd Berkhahn. “We had pool workouts – 2 on Monday, 2 on Tuesday, 1 on Wednesday, 2 on Thursday, 2 on Friday, 2 on Saturday, and 1 on Sunday in addition to 7 different dryland training sessions. My hardest workouts included sets of 20 x 200 butterfly at a 2:45 intervals [in a 50m long-course pool]. We also did a set of 6 x 1500s with every fourth lap butterfly, following by 3 x 500 all-out.”

While she briefly described her grueling training regimen, she also spoke eloquently of her love of the water and the connection she feels with her stroke and Mother Nature.

Race director Greg Shea announced, “Sharon will share her expertise and experience with our local community on August 22nd between 8 and 11 am at the US Sailing Center located at 5489 E. Ocean Blvd Long Beach, CA 90803. Her master class will offer

• Meet & Greet and autographs
• Classroom question & answer session and introduction to understand the swimmers, their background, and goals
• Dryland and injury prevention (30–40 minutes) using Therabands that focuses on shoulder stability, posture, and awareness
• In-water coaching (30-40 minutes) focusing on technique, posture, efficiency, and connection
• Keynote speech and closing followed by another 30-minute question & answer session

To register, visit here.”

After the races, Sharon greeted athletes after they ran to the finish chute, she answered swimmer’s questions, and walked around the shoreline with a genuinely warm smile on her face. She was the biggest marathon swimming celebrity to participate in the Naples Island Swims since it first started in 1903.

And the young ones swam especially fast today. Multi-time Naples Islands Swims winner and top 3 finisher Alex Kostich (56, USA, @alexkostich) finished a surprising 7th today, but he was surrounded by a bunch of teenagers including the top female finisher, Sharon Guerrero in 53:06. The race for first was close with both swimmers given the same time, but the ultimate victory nod was given to Yohann Guerrero over Mexico’s Diego Arturo Lopez Morales.

Top 50 Naples Island 3-mile Swim – Overall Finishers

1. Yohann Guerrero, 50:46
2. Diego Arturo Lopez Morales, 50:46
3. David Mesulam Medina Alfaro, 51:29
4. Eli Petersen 52:52
5. Isaac Wong, 52:55
6. Oscar Escalada, 52:58
7. Alex Kostich, 53:05
8. Sharon Guerrero, 53:06
9. Alejandro Alonso, 53:06
10. Matthew McDermott, 53:09
11. Allison Arnold, 53:12
12. Paul Reynolds, 54:45
13. Vanessa Nicole Lopez Morales, 54:47
14. John Green, 55:23
15. Natalie Umpornpuckdi, 55:34
16. Kyle Pu, 55:34
17. Craig Nadel, 55:48
18. Gabriel Octavio Navarro Rios, 56:56
19. Kathya Sophia Avendano Olvera, 57:02
20. Montserrat Mora, 57:16
21. Jaden Huang, 57:25
22. Skyler Munatones, 57:57
23. Mateo Vasquez, 58:34
24. Brandon Young, 58:45
25. Edgar Gabriel Ibarra Pacheco, 58:47
26. Wendy Zeiss, 58:57
27. Brooke Saunders, 59:23
28. Zac Wiezorek, 59:56
29. Renee Li, 1:00:10
30. Cooper Hughes, 1:00:18
31. Jose Luis Madrid Prado, 1:00:24
32. Katherine McKinney, 1:00:25
33. Ivan Rodriguez, 1:00:34
34. Beth Margalis, 1:00:46
35. Noah Gerard, 1:00:56
36. Tyler Fidler, 1:01:01
37. Isabel Valaika, 1:01:19
38. Jose Trujillo, 1:01:38
39. Mckenna Rosenberg, 1:01:42
40. Thomas Fernandez, 1:01:56
41. David Diaz, 1:01:59
42. Anthony Acuna, 1:02:16
43. Nicole Cienega, 1:02:24
44. Kazu Miyahara, 1:02:57
45. Andy Jones, 1:03:10
46. Victoria Sanchez, 1:03:33
47. Mandy Pu, 1:03:34
48. Nathaniel Terrell, 1:03:36
49. Saul Alejandro Silva Sanchez, 1:03:42
50. Lake Fisher, 1:03:44

8-time Catalina Channel swimmer Hank Wise was cooking up some Mexican food at the finish for his hungry swimmers of Swim Long Beach:

Due to recent storms and sand erosion on the slim sliver of the beach at the start, race director Greg Shea had to bring up many, many truckloads of sand in order to widen the sand area large enough to handle the crowds. A sold-out total of 750 swimmers participated in the 2026 Naples Island Swims (500 yards + 1 mile + 3 mile).

The Naples Island Swims were held about 2 minutes by car from the supposed LA28 Olympic 10 km open water swim. But the details of the swim are unknown at this time (location, number of loops, course design). The swim details are apparently decided, but the information is held in strict confidence, protected by signed Non Disclosure Agreements.

© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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