Mark Warkentin will take part in the 2011 USA Open Water National Championships - Swimming News
2008 US Open Water silver medallist, Mark Warkentin is going to participate at the 2011 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships, to be held on June 10 and June 12 at Fort Lauderdale Beach.
The championships will cover two Open Water swims, including a 10 km and a 5 km race. The 10 km event will take place on June 10, whereas the 5 km event will commence after a one-day break, on June 12.
The main goal of the championship is the selection trial of the national swimmers, to represent USA at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, this July.
The winners of both long distant swims will confirm their spots in the USA swimming team, competing at the 2011 World Championships. In addition, the top two finishers of the 10 km race will also secure their spots in the US team to the 2012 London Olympics,
whereas the winners of 5 km swim can only confirm their spots for London, if they achieve a podium finish at Shanghai. The 10 km national winners can also compete in the 5 km and 25 km races at the world titles in Shanghai.
The open water lap is of 2.5 km, meaning that the swimmers will have to complete two laps for 5 km swim and four laps for the 10 km swim.
Warkentin, who is the silver medallist of the 25 km swim at the 2008 Seville USA Open Water Championships, also aims to secure his Shanghai spot, by winning the title of the race. He is the four-time 1999 Summer Universiade gold medalist and won the silver
medal in the same event at 2001 Beijing.
Previously, the venue for the Open Water Championships was Fort Myers, but due to the water temperature conditions, the venue was changed to Fort Lauderdale Beach.
More than 50 male swimmers are going to participate in the 10 km race, whereas Warkentin is very hopeful about his Shanghai qualification, claiming that he is prepared for the upcoming challenge and will try to perform his best.
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