Swimming out of the Sandpipers of Nevada club, the 17-year-old Grimes pulled away over the last lap to win in 1 hour 58.08 seconds at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida.

Several different athletes animated the front of the race in the earlier laps, including international swimmers from Japan and Spain before Grimes and her Sandpipers of Nevada teammate Claire Weinstein moved into their positions in the fifth and final lap of the race. 

Heading into the last 300m, Grimes broke away to secure a 15-second margin of victory in defending her national 10km title. Behind, it was a photo finish for second place.

Following the Las Vegas native to the finish line was Mariah Denigan of the Indiana (University) Swim Club and her club teammate Grimes’ Sandpiper teammate, Claire Weinstein.  The lead pack in the final sprint also included Americans Kensey McMahon, Ashley Twichell, and Maria De Valdes of Spain.

For Twitchell, her fourth-place finish marked the former world medallist and Tokyo 2020 Olympian’s return to competition less than a year after giving birth to her first child.

Win and You’re In | A Fukouka 2023 Qualifying Event

The winner of both the men’s and women’s 10km events automatically earned a spot on the U.S. team for this year’s World Aquatics Championships, with each winner earning the opportunity to race both the 5km and 10km open water swimming events in Fukuoka.   

At last year’s World Aquatics Championships – Budapest 2022, Grimes won silver medals in the 1500m freestyle and the 400m individual medley. She also finished fifth in the 10K open water swim in Budapest.

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Grimes was the youngest member of Team USA and finished fourth in the 800m freestyle.

Post-Race Reflections with the Champ | Conversation with Katie Grimes 

Congrats on winning the women’s 10km and being the first American to earn a ticket to the World Aquatics Championships.

Thanks. Yes, I am going to Fukuoka!  You can't count on anything until you qualify.  It was a bit of a tough race just because of the tough field in today's race. It was very tight for a long time, and I wasn't really expecting that.  I just tried to stay calm and to keep strategizing. 

Compare yourself to the Katie Grimes from one year ago.

I definitely learned a lot more especially when it comes to open water swimming.  Every race you swim is something that I learn from.  I have a couple more 10ks under my belt this year.  There are a few tricks that I had going into this race that I didn't have last year.  There's an advantage to having that experience.

When did you start training for open water?  

I swam open water when I was pretty young.  Our coach, Sandpipers of Nevada Swim Coach Ron Aitken took us to swim at Castaic Lake in California.  We started in some 2.5K and 3K races and worked up to longer races.  My first open water nationals was in 2019 when I was 13 years old.  I was in awe watching Haley Anderson (2012 Olympic Silver medalist) and Ashely Twichell do their thing and it really inspired me.

What’s the appeal of open water swimming?

It's definitely different and that is one thing that draws me to it.  I like the aspect of just being creative about how you swim your race.  It's how you plan it, and how you strategize it, and how you react to things.  You can use these aspects in the pool as well, especially staying calm and staying focused.

What’s your favourite race, both in the pool and in open water?

It changes all the time, but right now it's the 200 fly.  My favourite open water event is definitely the 10k – the 5k is too quick for me – but the 10K gives me more time to relax and get into it.

What have you been working on to improve?

I have been working on just being able to be OK with being uncomfortable;  I am getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.  I am learning to be OK with not having control.  I am trying to be able to react calmly to things.

What’s your most memorable open water swimming experience?

Getting to race with people that I have looked up to like Haley Anderson and Ashley Twichell.  I remember growing up watching them swim and idolizing them.  It's inspiring to be in the same event as Ashley who less than a year ago gave birth to a baby and is back in the water.  It's really incredible to see her racing so well after taking so much time off to deliver and to raise a child.

What are your goals for this season?

My goal is just to keep training and working hard.  Hopefully, our USA Trials (for pool swimming) go really well and I will be able to have the best of both worlds (racing in pool and also open water events) at World Championships in Fukuoka.  I hope that our training goes well.  We have a couple of tough training blocks coming up but I am excited to swim in Fukuoka.

Finish this last sentence about yourself

Katie Grimes is.....Surprising!

Postscript

Grimes concluded the third and final day of the US Open Water Championships by winning the Women's 5 km, finishing in 58 minutes 37.95 seconds.

“It was just about getting experience,” Grimes said on her takeaways from winning two national titles in Sarasota. “Pretty much every open water race, experience is what I try and get from it and take to the next race. I feel like I now have a lot of tricks under my belt that I can use next time.”