In Columbus, Ohio at the USA Swimming Columbus Grand Prix swim meet, part of the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, the women’s 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle events gave a bit of an inkling of what to expect at the USA Swimming National 5K and 10K Open Water Swimming Championships that will be held in Long Beach, California in June.

With Olympian Chloe Sutton (shown above) of the Mission Viejo Nadadores swimming out of her mind despite being in heavy training and Greenwood Memorial‘s Eva Fabian (middle on left) swimming well in the pool after performing well in the Argentina FINA 10K World Cup, the two young women are fast barreling towards a fantastic battle at the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships in Long Beach, California in June.

Add up-and-coming Emily Brunemann of the University of Michigan (top middle without goggles in group photo above), her Michigan teammate Emily Hansen (bottom left with towel), 2008 FINA World Cup victor Kirsten Groome of Southern Illinois University, the top Canadian swimmers and a slew of very fast newcomers to the mix, and the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships are going to produce some very fast, very strategic, very exciting races.

In mid-season in Ohio, Chloe won the 800-meter freestyle in 8:29.31 over 1500-meter world record holder and fellow 2008 Olympian Kate Ziegler (8:43.40) and Eva (8:49.83) on Thursday. She followed that victory with a fast 4:08.53 in the 400-meter freestyle over Kate (4:12.56), world championship silver medalist Dagny Knutson (4:17.42) and Eva (4:19.15).

The 2010 USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships will be a critical race for American open water swimmers. Not only will the top finishers qualify for the 2010 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Quebec, Canada, but the top swimmers will also be supported by USA Swimming in the year leading up to the all-important 2011 World Swimming Championships in Shanghai.

The 10K race at the 2011 World Swimming Championships in Shanghai will serve as the first qualification race for the 2012 London Olympics 10K marathon swim.

The Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2012 London Olympics is going to be phenomenal. Like the inaugural Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Beijing, which were watched live on TV by fans in 72 countries and by over 44,000 online viewers in America at NBC Olympics.com, the 10K will showcase the talents and tactics of the world’s best open water swimmers.

25 of the world’s best marathon swimmers are going to treat the estimated 100,000 standing-room only crowd in central London’s Hyde Park and the live global television and online audience to two hours of strategy, tactics, phenomenal aerobic conditioning and an all-out mass sprint to a dramatic finish.

Home of the English Channel, birthplace of the British Long Distance Swimming Association and land of the Champion of Champions Race, Great Britain will be a wonderful host to the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim. And the expectations of the British people will fall on the shoulders of the extremely talented British swimmers.

Held in the Serpentine in Hyde Park in London, the setting will be unbelievably magical for the world’s best. But the first step to London will begin in Shanghai in July 2011.

The 25 men and 25 women finalists in London’s Olympic 10K Marathon Swim will comprise of the following:

o The top 10 highest placing men and women at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai
o 1 man and 1 woman from Great Britain as the host country
o 9 men and 9 women from a second qualification swim to be determined
o There will be a minimum of 5 male and 5 female continental representatives (i.e., 1 man and 1 women per continental region: Africa, Asia, Americas, Oceania and Europe)
o A test event – and possibly the second qualification swim – will be held in London on August 13-14, 2011, possibly as part of the FINA World Cup.

So as Chloe and Eva battled it out in Ohio, they will renew their rivalry in Southern California and perhaps onwards to Canada, Shanghai and London…or will the USA be represented by someone else? It is going to be exciting to watch – and fans will be able to watch up close in Spectator Boats right on the race course itself in Long Beach.

Swimmers…to your mark…

Second photo shows top American swimmers at the NYC Swim. Photo credit by NYC Swim.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones