Olympic Swimming 2016: Women's 10KM Open Water Medal Winners, Times and Results

Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands battled her way to a brilliant win in the women’s 10-kilometre open water swimming event at the 2016 Rio Games on Monday. 

Conditions were tough for the competitors in Rio de Janeiro, with choppy water off Copacabana beach. But that didn’t stop the Dutchwoman from pulling out an impressive victory, coming home ahead of Italy’s Rachele Bruni and Brazil’s Poliana Okimoto, who scrapped to the end for silver and bronze, respectively.

France’s Aurelie Muller had initially touched in second place, although she was disqualified for hindering her opponent in the latter stages.

Here are the results from a gruelling race and a look back at how the action panned out:

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED) 1:56:32.1	Rachele Bruni (ITA) 1:56:49.5	Poliana Okimoto (BRA) 1:56:51.4

Van Rouwendaal Races to Gold

On a baking hot day in Rio, the 26 women involved in the 10-kilometre open water swimming final faced an extremely difficult race for gold.

Oliver Holt of the Mail on Sunday posted this snap from his vantage point on Monday:

While the Copacabana beach made for a picturesque scene, the sea was rough and, as such, made for a frenetic beginning to the event. That wasn’t helped by the fact a plinth from which the competitors were expected to start from blew away in the wind, meaning the race would begin out at sea in the water.

Still, as is the case in any endurance race, the event did settle down, and as the pace increased, the leading swell of swimmers became smaller and smaller.

Those on the beach watching the event got pretty excited as the race reached the halfway point, with a Brazilian pairing of Ana Marcela Cunha and Okimoto leading the way at one stage. Meanwhile, Sky News’ Paul Kelso paid tribute to the determination of the competitors involved:

As the racers passed the feeding station, there still hadn’t been any significant moves from the main group, with the swimmers approaching the 7,500-metre mark. Although as they turned for the finish, they had the momentum of waves pushing them on, and Van Rouwendaal decided to make her break.

David Goldman/Associated Press

It proved to be a decisive one, with nobody able to bridge the gap to the world championship silver medalist. Van Rouwendaal kept her stroke rate high, and despite the undulating waves, her legs were still strong. SwimSwam Live was confident she’d get the job done at this juncture:

Such was her dominance that attentions turned to a fascinating battle for silver between Muller and Bruni. The swimmers both drifted to the left of the finishing gate and nearly collided with the edge. After some temporary disorientation for both, it was Muller who was able to touch first.

However, on review, it was deemed Muller had acted illegally in the latter stages, and she was subsequently disqualified. That saw Bruni promoted to silver and Okimoto, who was in hot pursuit of the duo, handed bronze.

SwimSwam provided more details on the disqualification:

The champion has proved herself to be a real all-rounder, having won medals in the pool at the previous world championships and in open water, too. That diversity was vital here, as Van Rouwendaal showed composure, endurance and then a brilliant turn of speed to break away from the pack.