Photos and explanation courtesy of Elliot Karlan Photography, San Francisco, California.
This sequence shows the swim and run-up-the-beach-to-the-finish at the 2016 RCP Tiburon Mile from Angel Island to the mainland city of Tiburon (meaning shark in Spanish) in San Francisco Bay.
It shows the significance of a running sprint to the finish.
Olympic silver medalist Keri-Anne Payne of Great Britain on the right was ahead in the water, but she did not get up and start running as quickly as eventual winner Ashley Twichell.
By the time Payne stood up and started to dash to the finish, Twichell on left was already in a dead run.
In the tightest female competition in the race’s history, Twichell [on left] barely edged out long-time rival Payne [on right] with a short onshore burst of speed to win her third career RCP Tiburon Mile.
The two women have raced together in four continents and numerous countries since 2009. In competition in either saltwater or fresh, 1 mile or 10 km, the British-American duo are nearly always swimming stroke-for-stroke, from the start to the finish.
Twichell ended up winning the US$2,500 first place, winner-take-all cash prize.
Elite Race Top 25 Results:
1. Chip Peterson (USA) 25:12
2. Michael Sheil (AUS) 25:18
3. Ashley Twitchell (USA) 26:06
4. Keri-Anne Payne (GBR) 26:06
5. Emily Brunemann (USA) 26:26
6. Lauren Boyle (USA) 28:06
7. Katy Campbell (USA) 28:09
8. Stephanie Peacock (USA) 28:15
9. Dan O’Connor (USA) 28:18
10. Catherine Breed (USA) 29:19
11. Sean Percin (USA) 30:10
12. Patrick Li (USA) 30:14
13. Evgeny Bezruchenko (RUS) 30:17
14. David Carry (GBR) 30:23
15. Hanno Rosner (USA) 30:39
16. Aaron Casey (USA) 31:42
17. Brittany Percin (USA) 33:56
18. Kohei Asano (USA) 34:39
19. Taylor Nanfria (USA) 35:34
20. Lizzy Follmer (USA) 35:44
21. Matt Sorenson (USA) 35:51
22. Megan Colpo (USA) 36:10
23. James Thomas (USA) 36:22
24. Jimmy Veazey (USA) 36:33
25. Melanie Hyde (USA) 37:26
Photojournalist Elliot Karlan has been photographing the RCP Tiburon Mile for years as a member of the National Press Photographers Association and San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association.
Local television coverage including an interview with Keri-Anne Payne is posted here.
Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association