Spreading The News In Chicago

Like her former USA Swimming national teammates John Kenny and Sara McLarty, former world 5K champion Erica Rose offers open water swimming clinics. Now located in Chicago, Erica offers motivational and educational information to budding and experienced open water swimmers based on years of racing in the Pacific Ocean, in lakes in Canada and down rivers in South America.

Swimming Like a Tiger

Sports fans around the world appreciate the physical gifts and mental toughness of Tiger Woods, the world's best golfer. On the final day of a golf tournament, there is no one tougher.

With crowds roaring with delight and heavy with expectations, going mano-a-mano against Tiger is always difficult for his competitors.

Professors Richard Rendleman and Robert Connolly wrote that players paired with Tiger in all rounds between 1998 and 2001 played nearly a half-stroke worse than usual. However, that differential increased to 0.857 strokes higher when paired with Tiger in the final round.

Some people call Tiger's intense focus a special killer instinct. Dr. Ken Ravizza, a noted sports psychologist, described Tiger's killer instinct, "To succeed in the same group with Tiger, you have to prepare for it. You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable."

If there were a Tiger in the open water world, it would have to be of Russian descent. If Tiger's haven is the 18th hole of the final round of gold tournaments, then Larisa Ilchenko's haven is the final stretch in 5K and 10K marathon swims.



At the 2004 World Open Water Swimming Championships, Larisa outsprinted Russian teammate Ksenia Popova, one of the fastest American 800-meter freestylers, Sara McLarty and a world-class field in an urban river in Dubai.

At the 2005 World Swimming Championships, Larisa swept by American Margy Keefe and multiple world champion Edith van Dijk in the smooth-water rowing basin in Montreal, Canada.

At the 2006 World Open Water Swimming Championships in the Mediterranean Sea off Naples, Italy, Larisa won convincingly over Brazilian Poliana Okimoto and Russian teammate Ksenia in the 10K and over Poliana and Britta Kamrau of Germany in the 5K.






At the 2007 World Swimming Championships, Larisa characteristically out-sprinted teammate Ekaterina Seliverstova and Australian Kate Brookes-Peterson in the 5K battle in the rough seas off Melbourne, Australia.

The results were the same, even though the finishing times were closer in the jellyfish-strewn 10K over Great Britain's Cassandra Patten and Kate Brookes-Peterson.

At the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships, Larisa won from behind after trailing behind Cassandra Patten and Yurema Requena of Spain for most of the race. The outcome and strategy was the same in the 5K with a close victory over Russian teammate Ekaterina Seliverstova and American Chloe Sutton in the warm river in Sevilla, Spain.

At the Beijing Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, Larisa achieved her most exciting come-from-behind victory over a pair of British medalists, Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten.

Similar to Tiger's decade-long dominance, Larisa has won numerous championship races throughout the world during her streak from 2004 to 2008.

Like Tiger walking down the fairway heading to 18th hole, Larisa comes charging down the final straightaway with the eye of the Tiger. They both have an inner strength build upon years of training and a supreme confidence that they have done everything to prepare themselves mentally and physically.

Top photo of Larisa by Kevork Djansezian of the Associated Press. Bottom photo of Larisa (in middle) by Giorgia Scala of Deep Blue Media.

Ous Against The World

Who are better race car drivers: NASCAR or Formula One drivers? Who are better pilots: helicopter or jet pilots? Who can throw a ball better: quarterbacks or pitchers?

The swimming world has a similar issue - who is better in the water: pool or open water swimmers?

It is clear that the world's best marathon swimmers cannot beat world's best pool swimmers in the pool...and the reverse is generally true.*

But, the Tiburon Mile may be the best venue to determine the world's best athlete in the water. The race is not a marathon swim (i.e., over 10K), so the advantage does not go to pure open water swimmers. The race is not in a pool, so the advantage does not go to pool swimmers. Rather the distance and venue is a good compromise between pool and marathon swimming.

So, who might be the favorite in Tiburon Mile this Sunday? Smart money is on Oussama Mellouli, the 2008 Olympic 1500-meter gold medalist.

But, as many open water swimmers know, there are no lanes no lines, no walls..and no mercy.

The $10,000 winner-take-all cash prize is incentive enough, but the pride of beating Olympic medalists and world champions from 20 different countries may be the bigger honor.

Founded in 1999 by Robert C. Placak, the RCP Tiburon Mile annually attracts a wide range of swimmers between the ages of 13 and 80, but the eyes of the media and fans that line the banks of San Francisco Bay are on the elite competitors.

As a great tribute to his vision and passion for the sport, Placak has not only developed a well-deserved reputation for organizing the world’s most competitive open water race, but he has also helped raise over US$650,000 for local charities, including this year’s beneficiaries, Hospice By The Bay and the Special Olympics RCP Tiburon Mile.

Mellouli, the 2007 world champion in the 800-meter freestyle and 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the third-fastest time ever, will be facing a tough crowd, including:

• Andrew Beato, an Australian World Championship Open Water Team 5K specialist
• Evgeni Bezruchenko, Russian-born 2001 gold medalist at the World Championships in the 10K Open Water Swim and member of the 2007 Maui Channel Open Water Swim winning team and 2008 Trans Tahoe Swim winning team
• Brendan Capell, 2004 25K World Champion, 2007 2nd place RCP Tiburon Mile and highly ranked FINA World Cup and Grand Prix competitor
• Vladimir Dyatchin, Swimming World Magazine’s 2007 Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year, winner of the 2006 and 2007 RCP Tiburon Mile, multiple 10K World Champion
• Eva Fabian, 15-year-old who placed 2nd in 2008 USA Swimming National 10K Open Water Championships
• Sergey Fesenko, from the Ukraine, a three-time FINA World Cup medalist, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Team member, and 5-time NCAA All-American, 4th place in 2006 RCP Tiburon Mile and son of 1980 Olympic gold medalist Sergey Fesenko, Sr.
• John Flanagan, 4th at the 2001 World Open Water Championships and member of the 2006 and 2007 champion Maui Channel Open Water Swim team and 2004 Waikiki Roughwater Swim Champion
• Trent Grimsey, world-class Australian pool and open water swimmer and overwhelming winner of the 2008 Waikiki Roughwater Swim
• Kirsten Groome, 2006 USA Swimming 5K national champion and top 5K and 10K open water specialist
• Dawn Heckman, 14-time NCAA All-American, 1999 and 2000 Pan Pacific gold and bronze medalist and winner of the 2008 La Jolla Rough Water Swim
• Britta Kamrau-Corestein, multiple-time world and European champion in the 5K, 10K and 25K
• J.K. Koehler, Jr., NCAA 1650-yard freestyle finalist, Olympic Trials 1500-meter finalist, member of 2008 RCP Tiburon Milers’ Trans Tahoe Swim winning team
• Annika Lurz, German silver medalist in the 2005 100-meter freestyle world championships, silver medalist in the 2007 200 freestyle world championships
• Thomas Lurz, multi-time world and European 5K and 10K champion, placed 2nd in 2006 RCP Tiburon Mile after a photo finish with Vladimir Dyatchin, won the 2005 and 2006 World Open Water Swimmer of the Year and bronze medalist in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim
• Chip Peterson, gold medalist in the 10K and silver medalist in the 5K at the 2005 World Swimming Championships, gold medalist in the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships 10K, 2007 USA Swimming 5K national champion
• Erica Rose, 1998 world 5K champion, member of six World Championship teams, on the US National Team for the past eleven years, holds nine national titles and voted USA Open Water Swimmer of the Year four times
• Luane Rowe, Australian winner of the 2008 Waikiki Roughwater Swim
• Noa Sakamoto, 2004 Olympic Trials qualifier in the 200 and 400 freestyle, 2007 Waikiki Roughwater Swim champion and member of the 2006 and 2007 champion RCP Tiburon Milers Maui Channel Open Water Swim team and 2008 RCP Tiburon Milers Trans Tahoe Swim winning team
• Ekaterina Seliverstova, Russian silver medalist in 2007 and 2008 5K World Open Water Championships
• Chloe Sutton, 16-year-old winner of the 2006 and 2007 Tiburon Mile, two-time USA Swimming national 10K champion, 10K gold medalist in the 2007 Pan American Games and 3rd-place finisher in the Olympic Trials 800-meter freestyle
• Steffan Troxel, a Scholastic All-American and a NCAA qualifier in the 1650 from Indiana University
• Eric Vendt, 2000 and 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the 400-meter individual medley, American record-holder in the 1500-meter freestyle (short course), holder of six U.S. National titles and member of 2008 Olympic Team

Additionally, members of the University of New Mexico, University of the Pacific, Stanford University and Cal Berkeley swim teams and Special Olympians from Ireland, Trinidad and across the USA are scheduled to compete.

On the media front, four-time Olympic gold medalist John Naber, three-time Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines, Olympian skier Jonny Moseley and Lauren Costella will provide live race commentary in a special Comcast Sports Net broadcast in November.

Swimming World Magazine will cover the star-studded event in print and online with real-time updates provided by Twitter (by Steven Munatones).

9:00 am PT on Sunday, October 5th – catch it online, on your mobile phone, in print and on TV.

Photo of Sara McLarty, 2004 Tiburon Mile winner.

2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome

The tentative dates for the open water races at the 2009 World Swimming Championships are July 19th (women's and men's 5K), July 21st (women's 10K), July 22nd (men's 10K), July 24th (women's 25K) and July 25th (men's 25K - although the race may be combined with the women's 25K race on July 24th).

NBC will televise the 2009 World Swimming Championships, although coverage of the open water races is currently not planned.

The location of the races has not been confirmed, but one strong candidate is "Rome's beach" a stretch of the Mediterranean coast near the Rome airport where the water is usually water and rough.

Photo of Larisa Illchenko, Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold medalist, winning her first gold medal at the 2004 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Dubai over Ksenia Popova of Russia and Sara McLarty of the USA. Photo by Steven Munatones.

Will the Streak Continue?

Similar to Grant Hackett on the men’s side, Russia’s Larisa Ilchenko looms large over her competition and is considered to be the overwhelming favorite in the women’s Olympic 10km Marathon Swim.

Since Ilchenko burst on the open water swimming scene in 2004, she has established the most impressive track record of success of anyone in the sport.

Her versatility has been evident in numerous venues and in every possible body of water. From a flowing river in Dubai in 2004 to a flat-water rowing basin in Montreal in 2005, the warm Mediterranean Sea in Naples in 2006 and the cold Pacific Ocean in Melbourne in 2007, Ilchenko’s world championship victories are a testament to her endurance, closing sprint speed, navigational IQ and savvy racing tactics.

Her strategy is simple and classic…and it ultimately leads to exciting, made-for-TV close finishes. For the first 5-7K, Ilchenko lurks around in the lead pack, jabbing and fading like a skilled boxer. She never leads and always drafts inches from her competitors in front of her. She rarely lifts her head to look forward and has mastered fast, efficient feedings at the feeding stations or while taking gel packs from her swim suit.

Once the lead pack starts to thin out and separate itself from the rest of the competitors, Ilchenko generally moves up to the second, third or fourth position, never much more than a body distance from the leader.

After the 8K, if any swimmer makes a break, or tries to, Ilchenko instinctively follows, hanging on right behind her competitor’s feet or immediately somewhere off to the side between their hips and feet. Generally, as the remaining lead swimmers approach the last turn buoy, Ilchenko moves into position towards the lead. Either right before or immediately after the last turn buoy, she steps up her pace and catapults herself into the lead or a dead tie with the leader. Then, because she has conserved more energy than her competitors throughout the race with her classic drafting technique, she begins her final kick, often brushes up against her foe until her last move within 25-50 meters from the finish.

From 2004 when she played out her strategy to perfection over Florida’s Sara McLarty in the 5K World Championships to 2007 when she mowed down Cassandra Patten of the U.K. Ilchenko has constantly demonstrated her patience and sense of the dramatic in all her 5K and 10K world championship victories.

However, with an Olympic gold medal on the line in Beijing, Patten, Melissa Gorman of Australia, Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands, Britta Kamrau-Corestein of Germany and Kirsten Groome of Shreveport, Louisiana are only a few of the top swimmers who are going to push Ilchenko to her limits.

These swimmers, all top pool swimmers in their respective countries, have the speed and endurance to upset the gold medal favorite.

Come August 20th 2008, we’ll see if Ilchenko finishes this Olympic quadrennial like the Miami Dolphins in their undefeated 1972 season – or like the New England Patriots in this year’s Super Bowl.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association