Ivan Puskovitch, Mariah Denigan Add 3k Knockout Titles at U.S. Open Water Championships
Coming off victories in the 10k events, Ivan Puskovitch and Mariah Denigan added 3k knockout titles to their collections during Friday action at the United States Open Water Championships in Sarasota, Florida. The 3k events, which are relatively new to open-water competition, are conducted in stages, with the field cut down at the 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter points.
First at the 1,000-meter mark and second at the 1,500 checkpoint, Puskovitch had too much for the opposition over the latter part of the race to grab his second win in as many days. The 2024 Olympian placed ahead of Colin Jacobs, while third place went to Joey Tepper. Rounding out the top five were Alexander Lyubavskiy and William Siegel.
In the women’s event, Denigan trailed Brinkleigh Hansen at each of the elimination checkpoints, but pulled in front over the closing 1500 meters. Like Puskovitch, Denigan secured the 10k gold medal on Thursday and was followed at the finish of the 3k knockout by Hansen and Brooke Travis. Fourth place went to Mila Nikanorov and fifth place was claimed by Paige Downey.
The Junior 5k titles went to Clare Herfel (1:04:15) and Joey Eaddy (58:32).
The U.S. Open Water Championships will conclude on Saturday with the men’s and women’s 5k events.