Mark Warkentin finishing seventh at the FINA 10k Open Water World Championship

Mark Warkentin, pictured above finishing seventh today at the FINA 10k Open Water World Championship in Savilla, Spain has earned the right to represent the USA in the first ever open water Olympic event.

I was curious as to what suit Mark Warkentin was wearing so I emailed TYR, the suit is wearing is called the Tracer Light Open Water, a suit designed for distance swimming of this nature. The suit has what TYR calls "Energy Cell" pockets to store nutrition/gel packets and customized compression panels. I will try and get pictures of it. Getting food at the aid stations is quite an art and takes up time. The pockets sound like a good idea.

I was told that he was wearing the tights.

Great open water article regarding Mark Warkentin's win at the 2007 Open Water Championship Trials

The photo above is of Erica Rose and Mark Warkentin, who are both the current women's and men's 2007 U.S. Open Water National Champions in the 25K distance!

I took this photo from the TYR website; (which is my favorite swim brand), since I couldn't find a photo at Flickr.com. Over the weekend Mark Warkentin won the 2007 World Championship Open Water Swimming Trials. A top ten finish at the Championship next year in Spain will guarantee him a spot on the US Olympic team

The word "great" is such an overused adjective that it has now become a meaningless cliché. So, when I say this article is great, I mean grand, big, excellent, exceeding expectations et cetera

This article is a play-by-play of the 2007 World Championship Open Water Swimming Trials written by Steven Munatones who was observing from the lead boat. Therein he writes about the swim strategy of Mark Warkentin, the swimming formations and the personalities.

Here is a snippet: "...

The field started off strong, heading straight into a slight surface chop and slight morning sun's glare. Swimming past numerous multi-million-dollar mansions surrounding the lake, the field formed into a classic European pack with everyone jockeying positions, hitting feet and hands, muscling around or away from others. Many of the pre-race favorites quickly found themselves in the front of the pack: Fran Crippen, Chip Peterson, Chad La Tourett and Noa Sakamoto.

But, there was one conspicuous absence: Mark Warkentin. Where was Mark? Pulling up the rear. Was this the same Mark who likes to lead? Sure was, swimming calmly and smoothly at the caboose. ..." [Link]