Sharon van Rouwendaal after her last-gasp victory. Photo: ANP/Ferenc Isza
Open water swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal has won the 10km open water title at the world championships in Budapest, her first gold medal since the 2016 Olympics.
The 28-year-old timed her finishing sprint to perfection to overtake Germany’s Leonie Beck and Brazilian Ana Marcela Cunha in the final metres, winning in a time of 2:02:29.
It was her first world title following three silver medals and made up for her disappointing 10th place in the 5km event.
‘I knew I had to approach it differently from the 5km,’ she said. ‘I’m very good at flicking the switch. I wanted to swim smart: hold back and then give everything in the sprint.’
Van Rouwendaal is in action again on Thursday in the longest race at the championships, the 25km.
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Source: Dutch News
