SWIMMING: Queenslander Melissa Gorman has finished a gallant 11th in the women’s 10 kilometre open water marathon, in a race where the tight nature of the course ensured there was plenty of contact for the two hours of swimming.

Won by Hungary’s Eva Risztov in a time of 1hour 57:38.2s, with American Haley Anderson second and Italian Martina Grimaldi third, Gorman crossed the line just over a minute behind after 1hour 58:53.1s.

Starting out trying to put on some pace in the early stages because she thought the group was ‘going too slow early on’, Gorman was among the lead pack of half a dozen right up until the 8km mark before being boxed in as a group of five took off for the final 1600m lap.

With the lead group upping the stroke rate, and Gorman unable to find any clear water, the Australian 1500m freestyle record holder was unable to stick with the medal contenders and held on to finish in the top ten.

Disappointed, having come into the race with the hope of winning a medal, the 26-year-old psychology student is still philosophical about swimming on and heading to Rio.

“It was a rough race out there, everyone was belting everyone, and once I started to cop a few hits I really struggled to catch back up to that lead group,” Gorman said.

“I would have liked to have gone a lot better than that and I would have liked to have come away with a medal and I think I was capable of that, but the race didn’t really go to plan and I gave it my best and that’s really all you can do.

“I’ll definitely keep swimming because I love it so much and I know I could do well in Rio.”

Australia’s champion Ironman Ky Hurst will conclude the swimming component of the London Olympic Games tomorrow when he swims the men’s 10km marathon at Hyde Park from midday.

Lachlan Searle at Hyde Park
Olympics.com.au