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Malibu surfside news | May 23, 2019 | 27
Wilmovsky wins third national title; world championships next
Chris Megginson
Freelance Reporter
For the first time in his
eight-year senior-level career,
Malibu native Jordan
Wilimovsky of Team
Santa Monica will swim
the 800-meter freestyle,
1,500-meter freestyle and
10K open water marathon
in a World Championship.
Wilimovsky, a 2016
Olympian, won his thirdstraight
10K national title at
the U.S. Open Water National
Championships in Miami
on May 3 to qualify for the
18th FINA World Aquatics
Championships, July 12-28,
in Gwangju, South Korea,
and the 2019 Pan American
Games in Lima, Peru, beginning
July 26.
His top U.S. time of 1
hour 50 minutes and 57.35
seconds was second overall
in the race, not far behind
Italian Olympic swimmer
Gregorio Paltrinieri
(1:49:25.37), an open water
newcomer.
“It was a solid race. Our
goal was to qualify for the
World Championship team
and we were able to do that.
It was kind of checking that
box and we’re getting ready
for Worlds,” Wilimovsky
said. “This is a big year
for Open Water, because if
you place in the Top 10 in
the World Championship it
solidifies your spot on the
Olympic Team in the 10K.”
Wilimovsky previously
qualified for the World
Championships in the pool
last fall at the Pan Pacific
Championships with a gold
medal in the 1,500 free
(14:46.93) and a silver medal
finish and personal record
time (7:45.19) in the 800.
Preparation for the 2020
Olympics in Tokyo is a big
part of Wilimovsky’s approach
to the upcoming
Jordan Wilimovsky, a Malibu High alumnus and 2016 Olympian, will swim three races at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in July in South
Korea. Photo Submitted
World Championships. He
will hope to capitalize on his
past international success
when he competes in the
10K at Yeoshu Expo Ocean
Park on July 16, followed
by the 800 meters on July 23
and 1,500 meters on July 27
at the Nambu International
Aquatics Centre.
“Every competition is
different, but having the
Olympic experience takes
the pressure off and knowing
what these big experiences
are like,” Wilimovsky
said. “It will be fun. I’m just
trying to get some fast times
and the goal is to go ahead
and qualify in the 10K, the
1,500 and 800. This will be
good prep to simulate what
it will be like to swim all
three of those races in a 10-
day span.”
This will be his sixth time
to represent Team USA in
an international 10K race,
after finishing ninth in the
2014 Pan Pacific in Australia;
winning gold at the
2015 World Championships
in Kazan, Russia; placing
fifth in the 2016 Olympic
Games in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil; earning silver at the
2017 World Championships
in Budapest, Hungary; and
winning gold last fall at Pan
Pacific outside Tokyo.
While Wilimovsky has
proven to be at the top of
his sport in the 10K, he is
looking to make his mark
in the pool also, returning
to pool competition last
year after a year removed.
“I feel really strong in
the pool. I’ve been putting
in a lot of work and going
fast in practice, faster than I
ever have before. I hope that
equates to a strong showing
this summer,” he said.
He enters 2019 after one
of his most successful professional
seasons.
In December, Wilimovsky
was named one of
Team USA’s Top 18 Men of
2018 after taking silver in
the 800 and winning gold in
both the 1,500 and 10K at
the Pan Pacific Championships
last August in Japan.
He also won the 400, 800
and 1,500 freestyles at the
Winter National Championships
in November and won
the 1,500 and finished second
in the 800 at the Phillips
66 National Pool Championships
last summer.