The Dutch swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal became European champion on Saturday in the five-kilometer swimming in open water. She thus won the European title for the third time in a row at the European Championships in Rome. At the European Championships in Glasgow in 2018 and last year in Budapest, she also swam first across the finish line at the shortest distance. It is her eighth European gold in total.
In the third and final lap, she swam in a final sprint to first place on Saturday, overtaking Spain’s Maria de Valdés and Italian Giulia Gabbrielleschi. “This was a very good race”, said the satisfied Van Rouwendaal afterwards.
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On Sunday, the 28-year-old swimmer will go for the title in the ten kilometers. Van Rouwendaal also won gold at the World Championships in Budapest a few weeks ago at that distance. She was third in the 25 km distance.
The European Championship matches in open water were rescheduled a number of times in the past week due to the turbulent weather – strong winds and high waves. For example, the races of 5 and 25 kilometers eventually both took place on Saturday. Van Rouwendaal was unable to participate in both matches and chose the shortest distance.