Haley Anderson, America’s Three-peat Olympic Swimmer

Courtesy of WOWSA, Gwangju, South Korea.

For most of her teenage and adult life, American Haley Anderson has been dreaming and training to compete in the Olympics.  She is completely dedicated to realizing her dreams.

And now she has accomplished a three-peat.

After her silver medal performance at the 2012 London Olympics in the Serpentine and her 5th place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Copacabana Beach, the 27-year-old has achieved her dream for the third time.  She finished less than a second behind gold medalist Xin Xin from China at the 10 km marathon swim at the FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Although Anderson is a representative for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games in her hometown, Tokyo may present her best chance to return to the Olympic podium.

After decades of waking up early to train, carefully preparing for races like this, today was a special day for the 27-year-old USC graduate.

Anderson was ecstatic, “I am really happy with how I raced and I am excited to qualify for another Olympic Games. I can’t believe I qualified for my third Olympics. To get my hand on the touch pads in second is really awesome. I finally won a medal in the 10km at the world championships. I really learned a lot during the past two quads.

It was pretty stressful and brutal in the race today. It was a little cut-throat out there because everyone was trying to finish in the top ten.

I was trying to stay calm and confident. Coming down the last stretch was a pretty big pack and I tried to keep the best line possible to the finish and I found clear water. I wanted to avoid fighting with anyone as that isn’t good for either swimmer. I made up some ground on the leaders. It was always my goal to be on the podium here, it wasn’t just about finishing in the top 10 today.

I am really excited about how I finished, not just where I finished. This is a great ‘set up’ for me for the Olympics next summer. I want to earn another medal for the USA at next summer’s Olympics. I still have plenty of racing ahead of me this summer. I will be competing in the 400m, 800m and the 1500m freestyle events in Lima, Peru at the Pan American Games next month.”

Women’s Olympic 10 km Qualification Race Results:
1. Xin Xin (China) 1:54:47.20
2. Haley Anderson (USA) 1:54:48.10
3. Rachele Bruni (Italy) 1:54:49.90
4. Lara Grangeon (France) 1:54:50.00
5. Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil) 1:54:50.50
6. Ashley Twichell (USA) 1:54:50.50
7. Kareena Lee (Australia) 1:54:50.50
8. Finnia Wunram (Germany) 1:54:50.70
9. Leonie Beck (Germany) 1:54:51.00
10. Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands) 1:54:51.10
11. Aurélie Muller (France) 1:54:51.20
12. Viviane Jungblut (Brazil) 1:54:51.90
13. Arianna Bridi (Italy) 1:54:52.00
14. Fuwei Dong (China) 1:54:56.70
15. Esmee Vermeulen (Netherlands) 1:54:58.40
16. Anna Olasz (Hungary) 1:54:58.70
17. Alice Dearing (Great Britain) 1:55:05.90
18. Samantha Arévalo (Ecuador) 1:55:22.80
19. Angelica Andre (Portugal) 1:55:23.40
20. Anastasiia Krapivina (Russia) 1:55:24.90
21. Mariia Novikova (Russia) 1:55:26.00
22. Yumi Kida (Japan) 1:55:26.70
23. Reka Rohacs (Hungary) 1:55:26.70
24. Paula Ruiz (Spain) 1:55:31.20
25. Danielle Huskisson (Great Britain) 1:55:31.50
26. Maria Alejandra Bramont-Arias (Peru) 1:55:33.80
27. Špela Perše (Slovenia) 1:55:44.40
28. Eva Fabian (Israel) 1:55:44.80
29. Chelsea Gubecka (Australia) 1:55:45.20
30. Minami Niikura (Japan) 1:55:46.80
31. Michelle Weber (South Africa) 1:56:25.80
32. Julia Lucila Arino (Argentina) 1:56:32.20
33. Maria Vilas (Spain) 1:57:34.40
34. Alena Benesova (Czech Republic) 1:57:48.60
35. Kate Farley Sanderson (Canada) 2:00:23.90
36. Krystyna Panchishko (Ukraine) 2:00:28.60
37. Kalliopi Araouzou (Greece) 2:00:30.30
38. Eden Girloanta (Israel) 2:00:34.60
39. Tsz Yin Nip (Hong Kong) 2:01:14.60
40. Lenka Šterbova (Czech Republic) 2:01:15.50
41. Martha Sandoval (Mexico) 2:01:17.50
42. Paola Perez (Venezuela) 2:01:29.70
43. Martha Ruth Aguilar Ortega (Mexico) 2:01:42.10
44. Nataly Caldas Calle (Ecuador) 2:02:03.50
45. Chantel Lily Jeffrey (Canada) 2:02:19.90
46. Robyn Kinghorn (South Africa) 2:03:05.10
47. Justyna Dorota Bruska (Poland) 2:03:28.40
48. Sandy Atef (Egypt) 2:07:37.80
49. Liliana Hernandez (Venezuela) 2:07:38.40
50. Karolina Balazikova (Slovakia) 2:07:38.70
51. Mariya Fedotova (Kazakhstan) 2:07:42.50
52. Cho Ying Wong (Hong Kong) 2:07:43.40
53. Dayoun Lim (Korea) 2:07:50.90
54. Pimpun Choopong (Thailand) 2:08:16.60
55. Haeun Jung (Korea) 2:09:36.80
56. Yanci Vanegas (Guatemala)2:11:59.10
57. Famita Flores (Estonia) 2:12:00.60
58. Katawan Teeka (Thailand) 2:17:27.00
59. Hita Nayak (India) 2:17:32.30
60. Sofie Frichot (Seychelles) 2:18:07.70
61. Nikitha Setru Venugopal (India) 2:20:09.50
62. Camila Mercado (Bolivia) 2:23:09.70
63. Genesis Rojas (Costa Rica) 2:23:29.40
64. Merle Liivand (Estonia) 2:23:30.80

Watch the men’s 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualifier race live here on Tuesday on FINAtv.

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