Nothing tainted in gripping swim
MARATHON: No complaints about water as Weinberger’s medal hopes washed away
Another of the pre-Olympic panics that was supposed to doom the flawed Games of Rio came crashing down Tuesday morning when Canadian marathon swimmer Richard Weinberger declared he swallowed more than his share of ocean water — and had no problem with almost any of it.
“It’s like swimming at home,” the Vancouver-trained competitor said. “It’s beautiful out there. I recommend getting in and body surfing.”
“It was never an issue for us,” his coach, Steve Price, said. “We don’t want to put athletes in unsafe situations. The water was fine here. Our doctors described the water as no better, no worse, than Vancouver.
“Richard swam here last summer. He never came away sick at all.”
Weinberger did admit to having breathing issues near the end of the 10-kilometre swim.
“I felt my throat just kind of swell up,” he said.
It wasn’t the apparent raw sewage or the super bacteria or any fecal matters that did him in over the final 500 metres. It was the gasoline from the boats.
“I just kind of held my cool as long as I could,” he said. “I was as tough as I could be.”
It’s all part of this rather amazing game few ever talk about.
If these athletes can swim 10 kilometres of ocean in just under an hour and 53 minutes, they can tough their way through just about anything. Weinberger, a surprise bronze medal winner in London four years ago, had it in his mind to be back on the podium at Fort Copacabana Tuesday. But his own fuel gave out — just slightly — as he moved from a slow start at 13th place to fourth place after 7.48 kilometres, to finishing 17th overall, 16.6 seconds behind the gold-medal winner, Ferry Weertman of the Netherlands.
Weinberger would have been 18th had Brit Jack Burnell not been disqualified for an in-water indiscretion of some kind.
“This is f---ing outrageous,” Burnell shouted just outside the mixed zone interview area.
Coming into this event and these Games, many thought the notion of holding a swim marathon at all here was “f---ing outrageous.” Not only did the water hold up, but more than even that, the sport did.
Imagine a marathon race, on ground, with 11 runners finishing within five seconds of each other. With a photo finish to determine the victor. It doesn’t happen often. It probably never happens. But Tuesday, 11 swimmers closed together as a pack, within five seconds of each other after 10 kilometres, and Weertman did not know he was the gold-medal winner until he was out of the water and riding off in a golf cart.
Weertman swam in 1:52.59.8, the same time as silver medallist Spiros Gianniotis of Greece. Marc-Antoine Olivier of France was third. His time: 1:53.02.
Less than half a second difference over 10 km of swimming: That is more than remarkable.
“I’ve improved tenfold since London,” Weinberger said. “I knew I was strong enough to win this. It just wasn’t the day.”
Weinberger said he was personally bothered by a change in the Guanabara Bay conditions that surprised him.
“You train,” he said. “You study the course, and then 48 hours before the race a big surf comes in and sinks the pontoon. This is open water swimming.”
Weinberger was self aware enough to know he had no push left as the race ended. Closing speed is not his strength.
“I knew with about 500 metres left I’d lost my chance to get on the podium. And I just pushed to the finish.”
Sixteen places back of gold: just 16.6 seconds behind after more than 113 minutes in the water.
Now 26, Weinberger seemed so much more composed and mature in defeat than he was in giddy victory four years ago. He seemed a lot more Jeff Spicoli back then — like sorry bud, you’ve got to catch the wave. Now he talks about coming back to the Olympics in Tokyo four years from now partly to swim, partly to climb Mt Fuji.
The kid has grown up. So has the sport. And in the tainted water of Brazil, everyone lives to swim another day.
“I knew with about 500 metres left I’d lost my chance to get on the podium.” — Richard Weinberger