Weertman leads Dutch sweep of open water races

Ferry Weertman made it double Dutch gold in open water swimming at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday with a victory in the men’s 10km at Copacabana beach. Spyridon Giannitois of Greece earned silver and France Marc-Antoine Olivier took the bronze.

Unlike Van Rouwendaal, who won by a handsome margin, Weertman only managed to secure victory after a thrilling sprint for the finishing board involving seven swimmers.

Race favourite and world champion Jordan Wilimovsky of the U.S. came home fifth, a further 1.2 seconds behind, with just five seconds covering the first 11 swimmers home.

At the turn for the home straight, after nearly 100 minutes of gruelling swimming, the pack finally bridged the gap, Weertman the first man to overtake Poort. The pair were so close, however, that they were given the same finishing time of 1:52:59.8. It was the last race for the 36-year-old, who retires after five Olympics as a pool and open water competitor. “I think that’s a really good way to go”. “It took me a while”.

For a while, it seemed the 21-year-old’s daring might pay off but, nearly inevitably, he began to tire on the third lap as the chase group rallied and, going into the last circuit, his lead had been cut to 40 seconds over the pack, led by reigning champion Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia. who eventually got swallowed up in the rush for home and could only finish 12th. After Ryan appealed the ruling, he was reinstated as the 14th-place finisher with his time of 1:53.15.5.

“It was such a tough race from the start”.

Australian Jarrod Poort opened up an early lead, separating himself from the field by almost a full minute after the first lap of four on the course.

Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli-London 2012 gold medallist-tried to stretch out the pack and pursue the Australian, but the 21-year-old continued to extend his lead, getting as far as two minutes ahead halfway through the four-lap race. “I said to myself after Barcelona 2013: “If I qualify for the Olympics and swim the Olympics, that will be my last race”.

Mellouli, in what was likely his final Olympic race, settled for 12th. “We may be playing roulette with it, but we prepared as well as we could”.