Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Danielle Huskisson captured the biggest title of her career to date, winning the 5 km time trial race at the European Open Water Swimming Championships in Hoorn, Netherlands over a number of more renowned swimmers.
“I can’t believe it. This is a great surprise for me, I didn’t expect to win here,” admitted the British veteran who has swum in the shadows of her more well-known British teammates.
But she took it out and forged into the lead right on the first lap. Her coaches saw herself swimming keeping pace with world champion and pre-race Olympic medalist favorite Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands.
Then Huskisson benefitted from a bit of luck.
Due to the random start draw, the Dutch swimmer started 20 minutes later and ran into stronger winds and greater turbulence than Huskisson who started the time trial earlier. Huskisson kept her pace up and eventually won in 59:46.1 with Germany’s Finnia Wunram second in 59:52,4 and van Rouwendaal finished third in 59:54.9.
5 km Time Trial Top 11 results:
1. Danielle Huskisson (Great Britain) 59:46.1
2. Finnia Wunram (Germany) 59:52.4
3. Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands) 59:54.9
4. Aurora Ponsele (Italy) 1:00:11.8
5. Giulia Gabbrielleschi (Italy) 1:00:38.6
6. Ilaria Raimondi (Italy) 1:00:43.4
7. Erika Villaecija (Spain) 1:00:57.6
8. Svenja Zihsler (Germany) 1:00:59.6
9. Kelly Araouzou (Greece) 1:01:03.4
10. Anna Olasz (Hungary) 1:01:19.8
11. Sarah Bosslet (Germany) 1:02:04.5
Full results of the LEN European Open Water Swimming Championships are posted here.
Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association