Staff Reports
Michael Brinegar’s first World Championship competition was a memorable one.
The Columbus resident, who will be a sophomore at Indiana University, was the top American and finished 12th overall in the Open Water 5K in the 18th FINA World Championships at the Yeosu Expo Ocean Park in South Korea. He finished in 53 minutes, 37.1 seconds on Saturday (Friday night in the United States).
“I just didn’t swim the turns well enough,” Brinegar told USA Swimming. “At the end of each lap, I would start to get into a good position, and I wouldn’t continue swimming as hard as I was or as hard as the rest of the pack was, and I’d lose my position. I had to really work the beginning of each lap, and it just made it that much harder.”
The race was a physical, three-lap event with tight turns. Brinegar worked his way into the top 10 three or four times, only to fall back in the field after trying to navigate his way through the rough-and-tumble turns.
With 500 meters remaining, Brinegar had fallen back to 24th place. But he made one final charge to the front to finish 12th.
The finish was a tight one. Less than 4 seconds separated second place from Brinegar’s 12th-place finish. Fellow American Brennan Gravley was 14th in 53:37.8.
“It’s a really good learning experience,” Brinegar said. “I know now I can do better for the next open water swim I have. It was just a really rough race, and it’s pretty good finishing in the top 20, so I’m pretty happy with that.”
Brinegar is being considered for the 5K Mixed Team Relay that will take place at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday. The race will be shown live on the Olympic Channel.
