Australia’s Gorman beats Olympic champion Ilchenko in women’s 5k open water race at worlds

Aussie Gorman wins women’s 5k open water at worlds

ROME — Melissa Gorman of Australia edged Olympic champion Larisa Ilchenko in a sprint finish Tuesday to win the women’s 5-kilometer open water swimming race at the world championships.

Gorman won in 56 minutes, 55.8 seconds in the open sea course off Rome’s ancient port of Ostia. Ilchenko took the silver medal, 0.5 seconds behind, and Poliana Okimoto of Brazil was third, 3.5 seconds back.

“I had no idea until I looked up at the officials and they told me I was first. I couldn’t believe it,” said Gorman, who only began racing open water two years ago. “(Ilchenko) has been my idol. To sprint against her and beat her is absolutely amazing.”

The race was originally scheduled for Sunday but was postponed by two days after rough seas destroyed the starting dock and timing equipment. Consequently, swimmers began the race already in the water and an old fashioned banner replaced computerized touch pads at the finish line.

Gorman timed her final stroke better than Ilchenko and was able to reach up higher than the Russian and slap the banner first.

“I had a few little practice runs at the start and I missed it in the practice, so I adjusted a few things and I think that really helped me in the end,” Gorman said.

Ilchenko attributed the loss to a problem with her left leg, and she was limping when she came ashore.

“I never expected to see a banner like that at world championships. The biggest problem was my leg, though,” Ilchenko said. “I gave it everything I had, but in the last 15 meters you needed to work a lot with your legs and I wasn’t able to.”

The 23-year-old Gorman was racing 5K for the first time in an international meet. She finished 15th in the 10K race at last year’s Beijing Olympics.

Gorman will also race 10K on Wednesday, then she is entered for the 800 and 1,500 freestyle races in the pool next week.

The last Australian woman to win an open water race at worlds was Melissa Cunningham in 1994, when the competition was first held in Rome, with open water contested in nearby Terracina.

Shelley Taylor-Smith of Australia won the inaugural women’s open water race at worlds in 1991, and she was one of the first to congratulate Gorman on the beach.

“Hopefully this will spur on the rest of the team and we can have an amazing championship,” Gorman said.

Okimoto’s medal was Brazil’s first ever in open water, and first of any kind at the swim worlds since the South Americans won two bronzes in traditional swimming in 1994.

Open water was contested in Beijing for the first time at an Olympics and Ilchenko won in a sprint there. The Russian has also won 5K races at the last two world championships, as well as the 10K race in 2007. She had never lost a race at a major competition, including Olympics, worlds and open water worlds.

Ilchenko said she would still enter the 10K race Wednesday.

“I’m going to try and get my leg taken care of, and hopefully it should be OK,” the Russian said.

The race was held in perfect conditions, with calm seas and the water at 73 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yurema Requena Juarez of Spain finished fourth and Ekaterina Seliverstova of Russia was fifth. Amputee swimmer Natalie du Toit of South Africa placed 21st.

There were no reports of underwater shoving and fighting that often mar open water races.

“It was really clean out there,” Gorman said. “Everybody was good sports.”