Trent Grimsey pulled away on the third loop at today’s King of the Sea Challenge (Rei Do Mar Desafio) in Rio de Janeiro, using a 6-beat kick and a 88 stroke-per-minute tempo.

He resorted to a 92 spm tempo on the last loop to keep his competitors at bay and capture the inaugural King of the Sea title in front of a live TV audience.

The exciting 10K race was a five-loop course on the planned Olympic 10K Marathon Swim course in Copacabana Beach with a 100-meter run in soft sand between each loop.

Trent was dead-last during the first two loops, but he was unflustered and was simply bidding his time until his killer third loop. “Tactics played a big part of this race. It is 10K, so it is a long way. I made my break on the third loop when [the leaders] were closer to shore.”

Third-place Alexander Studzinski said, “I did not see him, but every time we ran on the beach, my legs cramped up. [Second-place] Chad [Ho] and I were swimming together, but Chad got me on the run [to the finish]. But we worked well together and tried to catch Trent at the end.”

Chad agreed it was a good race, “I felt good the whole way and I’d like to come back next year.”

Fourth-place Luiz Lima, a crowd favorite, nearly closed the gap on the top three with a furious finish, but he was gracious in defeat. “This is good for Rio and I really had fun. We should do more events like this.” Trent, like the other invited athletes, summed up everyone’s impressions, “I’d love to come back to Rio. It’s a great spot for a great race. I’ll be 28 [years old] by 2016…“

The results were as follows:

1. Trent Grimsey (Australia), 1:35:03
2. Chad Ho (South Africa), 1:35:34
3. Alexander Studzinski (Germany), 1:35:36
4. Luiz Lima (Brazil), 1:35:37
5. Filipe Alcântara (Brazil), 1:35:45
6. Glauco Rangel (Brazil), 1:36:21
7. Ivan Lopez (Mexico), 1:36:22
8. Fabio Lima (Brazil), 1:36:23
9. Daniel Katzir (Israel), 1:36:32
10. Carlos Pavão (Brazil), 1:36:44

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