Chesterfield Swimmers to Compete in Open-Water Event

The Rockwood Swim Club Association (RSCA) has five team members competing in the Open Water Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, FL, this week. 

Nick Davis will swim in the 10K Friday. Davis, along with Kevin Poskin, Mae Riordan, Raquel Porporis and Nathan Rahe, will compete in the 5K on Sunday.  The event serves as the first selection meet for the Olympic Trials competition and for National Junior Team (younger than 18 years old) selection.

Open water swimming achieved international exposure when it was deemed an official event at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This type of swim competition is particularly challenging to participants because no lane lines, walls or starting blocks dictate what it takes to win. Elements during the day of competition often play a deciding role in determining the winner of an open water race, USA Swimming materials state.

“I'm excited to try this new event," said Riordan, of Wildwood. "It's going to be a huge adventure, and I'm going to be ready.”

“I'm looking forward to trying something new and just hoping to do my best,” said Davis, a Chesterfield resident.

“This is our first foray into national open-water competition,” said RSCA national group coach Mary Liston. “Previously, we’ve had swimmers compete in open-water races at zones, but they were held in lakes and at shorter distances."

She said pool training carries over well if swimmers are strong in distance freestyle. "The top open-water swimmers are often the top milers of their area. Our learning curve was steep—there are things about strategy, drafting, rounding the buoys and sighting the course that we learned quickly. All five of these swimmers understand this is a growing part of our sport, and they are excited to represent Rockwood in the race.”

Qualifying for this competition comes by achieving times in the 1000-meter freestyle or the mile events, or by finishing in the top 15 in the previous year’s nationals. 

“I loved open water as an age group competitor. It's my last year of swimming, and I figured, 'Why not try something new?' ” said Rahe, of Wildwood.

RSCA coach Tom Lombardo has triathlon experience and helped to get the athletes prepared to race. He said teammates came in to help with the drafting and handling the buoys.

“I'm apprehensive about the 5K, but it will be nice to finish and say I could do it," said Poskin, of Chesterfield.

Additionally, Matt Davis, brother of Nick Davis, is going to the competition to handle the feeding station for the 10K. 

“This is a team effort. Everyone learned the ropes at the same time,” Liston said. “One thing Rockwood Swim Club excels in is supporting each other and doing what it takes to succeed. They are looking forward to race day.”

RSCA is sponsored by Nike Swim. The club's youngest competitor, Porporis, of Chesterfield, thinks Nike's motto best describes the mission for this week:  "Just do it.”

Editor's Note: Patch reader Rhonda Vega provided details for this article.