The second day of the 2026 USA Swimming Open Water National and Junior National Championships saw 15-year-old Joey Eaddy of Revolution Aquatic Club in Massachusetts crowned as the boy’s 16U 5 km champion. His victory was followed by a similar sizable victory by another 15-year-old Clare Herfel of Northern Kentucky Clippers Swimming at the Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida.

Both Eaddy and Herfel are stand-out versatile distance freestylers who have won their respective Sectionals in various pool events. But they are now taking their pool skills into the open water during this Olympic quadrennial – and most probably beyond.

The 6″-6″ (198 cm) Eaddy had a specific racing strategy, “I went out hard right from the beginning and really pushed the pace on the first lap. Then, I backed off and let the other guys take the lead and I drafted off of them until the last buoy and then I turned up the pace again.”

With 77 starters in the race, that decision to get out in front of the massive field was a good one. He does some open water swimming workouts in Concord, Massachusetts’ famed Walden Pond with his Revolution teammates and his coach.

After a 12th place finish in yesterday’s senior men’s 10 km race, the first 10 km of his career, he warmed down a bit, used his KAATSU equipment, and was geared up for today’s 8 am start in the 5 km.

But his coach Dr. Chris Morgan panicked a bit when Eaddy stopped dead in his tracks while he was in total control of the race, leading the field into the finish. “Joey came to a stop and I didn’t know why. Evidently, he hit a turtle. But then he picked up his pace again. I think I was more surprised than he was. Joey usually takes these things in stride.”

Sarasota is a major nesting hub for sea turtles, including loggerheads and green sea turtles.

Eaddy has one more race this weekend, tomorrow’s 16U 3 km Knockout Sprints.

USA Swimming Junior National Championship 5 km Boy’s Results

1. Joey Eaddy, 16, Revolution Aquatic Club 58:32
2. Sawyer Hansen, 15, St Petersburg Aquatics 58:39
3. Lincoln Driesse, 16, Planet Swim Aquatics 58:42
4. Jack Reburn, 16, South Lake Aquatics Club58:43
5. Jayden Yun, 16, Long Island Aquatic Club 58:44
6. Lewis Bateman, 16, Sandpipers of Nevada 58:49
7. Owen Miklos, 16, NOVA of Virginia Aquatics 59:07
8. Charlie Russell, 16, Bolles School Sharks
9. Bradshaw Shoemaker, 14, Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team
10. Parker Van Olst, 16, New Wave Swim Team 59:35
11. Nolan Kurtz, 16, St Petersburg Aquatics 59:39
12. Owen Anderson, 16, Planet Swim Aquatics 59:45
13. Porter Debruin, 15, Sarasota Sharks 59:48
14. Kyle Madigan, 15, Memphis Thunder Aquatic Club 59:57
15. Adam Malaj, 16, Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team 1:00:02
16. Evangelos Diamantis, 15, Long Island Aquatic Club 1:00:30
17. Luka Youssef, 16, St Petersburg Aquatics 1:00:38
18. Luke Reid, 15, St Andrews’ Aquatics 1:00:39
19. David Gellin, 16, North Carolina Aquatic Club 1:00:40
20. Jaxson Morgan, 16, Sandpipers of Nevada 1:00:46
21. Hobie Matulis, 15, YMCA of Great Nashua Storm 1:00:48
22. Jack Yonge, 15, Badger Swim Club 1:01:06
23. Craig O’Mara, 16, Rose Bowl Aquatics 1:01:29
24. Phillip Tchernikov, 15, New Wave Swim Team 1:01:30
25. Jack Gravell, 15, Rockville Montgomery Swim Club 1:01:34
26. Logan Donley, 15, Rockville Montgomery Swim Club 1:02:01
27. Isaac Waks, 16, Victor Swim Club 1:02:09
28. Finn Cavanaugh, 15, Mecklenburg Swim Association 1:02:12
29. Alex Diaz, 16, South Florida Aquatic Club 1:02:15
30. Lance Butler, 16, Sarasota Sharks 1:02:31
31. Kyle Conboy, 16, Laker Swim 1:02:35
32. Layne Marano, 15, St Petersburg Aquatics 1:02:37
33. Brayden McCoy, 15, Memphis Thunder Aquatic Club1:02:38
34. Mark Silverman, 16, Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics 1:02:39
35. Wyatt Livingston, 16, Bainbridge Island Swim Club 1:02:40
36. Everett Pumphrey, 16, New Trier Aquatics1:02:41
37. Callen Carney, 16, Long Island Aquatics Club 1:02:42
38. Tai Manning, 16, Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club 1:02:43
39. Alexander Kovalev, 15, St Petersburg Aquatics 1:02:50
40. Peter Zhou, 16, Revolution Aquatic Club 1:03:01
41. Arshawn Behzadian, 15, Rose Bowl Aquatics 1:03:12
42. Daniel Bunge, 14, NOVA of Virginia Aquatics 1:03:16
43. Liam Chop, 15, Fishers Area Swimming Team 1:03:21
44. Finn Walsh Jersey Wahoos 1:03:23
45. Henry Gaither, 15, Aquatic Team of Mecklenburg 1:03:26
46. Declan Komelasky, 15, North Carolina Aquatic Club 1:03:28
47. Joseph Bangali, 16, Badger Swim Club. 1:03:28
48. Samuel Cimbala, 14, Hydro Swim Club 1:03:39
49. Gavin Johnson, 16, Tualatin Hills Swim Club 1:03:40
50. Bruce Qian, 16, Asphalt Green United Aquatics 1:03:44
51. Andrew Kriger, 16, Shawmust Aquatic Club 1:03:49
52. Mason Slugg, 16, Revolution Aquatic Club 1:03:58
53. Lucas Lieberman, 16, Bolles School Sharks 1:04:02
54. Oskar Kosloff, 16, Rose Bowl Aquatics 1:04:03
55. Ricky Kaneaster, 15, Hydro Swim Club 1:04:09
56. Abhijay Bangari, 16, Shawmut Aquatic Club 1:04:11
57. Alex Jones, 16, Bellevue Swim Club 1:04:!6
58. Wyatt Majors, 15, Bainbridge Island Swim Club1:04:22
59. Raymond Li, 16, Rose Bowl Aquatics 1:04:45
60. Matthew Shi, 15, Planet Swim Aquatics 1:04:46
61. Nate Lee, 16, Rose Bowl Aquatics 1:04:52
62. Evan Garrido, 15, Germantown Academy Aquatic Club 1:05:15
63. Clayton Richards, 16, Aquatic Team of Mecklenburg 1:05:25
64. Alex Kirsling, 13, Nitro Swimming 1:05:57
65. Kellen Tolley, 15, Jersey Wahoos 1:06:29
66. Carson Dietrich, 14, TAC Titans 1:06:58
67. Lucas Seng, 15, Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team 1:07:27
68. Trent Abbott, 14, NOVA of Virginia Aquatics 1:07:42
69. Roman Snider, 14, SwimMAC Carolina 1:08:05
70. Willian Xing, 15, North Carolina Aquatic Club 1:09:07 OTL
71. Calvin Hodges, 16, Front Range Barracudas 1:09:24 OTL
72. Cole Henderson, 16, Tualatin Hills Swim Club 1:10:21 OTL
73. Andersen Wozniak, 15, Blazing Barracudas 1:10:29 OTL
74. Caleb Coyne, 16, NOVA of Virginia Aquatics DNS
75. Lucas Watkins, 15, Bobcat Swim Club DNS
76. Max Theissen, 15, Northern Kentucky Clippers Swimming DNS
77. Erik Dolezel, 16, Rockville Montgomery Swim Club DNS

The remaining races will be live-streamed on the USA Swimming Network. Watch for free here with Mike Lewis as the race announcer.

© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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