Johnson swims to in-Seine silver in marathon swimming
Australian Moesha Johnson has splashed through the Seine’s polluted waters to win a pristine silver medal in the marathon swimming 10km race.
The 26-year-old Tweed Heads, NSW, swimmer was finally outpaced in a thrilling three-woman open water race to the line by Dutch great Sharon van Rouwendaal, who regained the crown she won in Rio eight years ago.
For Germany-based Johnson, who had also finished sixth in the 1500m final in the pool, the silver made glorious amends for just missing out on a world championship medal in Doha earlier this year.
The marathon two-hour slog in the Seine was given the go-ahead before the early morning start which didn’t stop vast crowds lining the banks near the gilded Pont Alexandre III bridge to watch the six 1.6km circuits.
By the penultimate lap, the race had come down to three swimmers – Johnson, world champion van Rouwendaal and Italian Ginevra Taddeucci.
But just before the final push into the finishing funnel, the 30-year-old van Rouwendaal began to forge away from the Australian and had five seconds to spare as she hit the board in two hours three minutes 34.2 seconds.
Johnson finished in 2:03.39.7, with Taddeucci taking the bronze in 2:03.42.8.
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