With 3-time Olympic medalist Sharon van Rouwendaal (33, Netherlands, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here, @svrouwendaal) looking on, Maksym Marshchivskyi and Andres Alonso swam shoulder-to-shoulder from start to finish at the 500-yard Naples Island Swim held in Long Beach, California on August 15th.

Marshchivskyi dove across the finish line to literally out-leap Alonso for the victory [see drone footage above by Chris Rodriguez].

2026 Naples Island Swim 500-yard Top 25 Finishers

1. Maksym Marshchivskyi, 7:55
2. Andres Alonso, 7:56
3. Hoshi Aono, 7:59
4. Connor Wood, 8:09
5. Ernest Hsu, 8:10
6. Declan Wang, 8:17
7. Noah Mobasseri, 8:24
8. Hilda Castillo, 8:25
9. Reina Han, 8:25
10. Hana Kasahara, 8:46
11. Julien Camille Chio, 8:51
12. Vasilisa Shcherbakova, 8:53
13. Emily Benedum, 8:54
14. Aiden Kim, 8:56
15. Noah Rivera, 8:57
16. Elli Kettunen, 8:58
17. Amelia Henderson, 8:59
18. August Liao, 9:03
19. Alex Zhang, 9:08
20. Leonardo Bernal, 9:10
21. Aiden Woo, 9:11
22. Oceana Rivas, 9:13
23. Ray Yu, 9:21
24. Yile Feng, 9:23
25. Victor Emiliano Navarro Rios, 9:24

Before the 500-yard race, 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.”

With everyone in the 500-yard race between 8-12 years old, parents and siblings crowded the finish line with their smartphones. A sold-out total of 750 swimmers participated in the Naples Island Swims (500 yards + 1 mile + 3 mile).

© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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