Grothe wins, passes on open water title bid

Boulder City High School 2010 graduate Zane Grothe continues his success as a swimmer, finishing fourth in the 5K race at USA’s 2019 Open Water National Championships held May 3-5 in Miami.

Finishing with an overall time of 54:34.71, Grothe was the fastest American swimmer at the event.

“I think I competed very well,” he said. “I never expected to be any higher than sixth in the race. My goal for the 5K was to be competitive after a 10K two days before.”

Qualifying for the 2019 World Championships in South Korea in the 5K race, Grothe showed he wasn’t just a great competitor, but a great teammate as well, deferring his world championships spot to teammate and sixth-place finisher Michael Brinegar due to an already busy schedule.

“I didn’t think I’d be in the position to have to decide whether or not to compete in open water at worlds,” Grothe said. “It was beyond my goals and racing and preparing for open water in the week before pool racing would be detrimental to my pool events. I’m honored to be able to give my spot to Michael. I’ve been training with him for about a year now and he’s definitely put the work in for this opportunity. I know racing the 5K at the world championship level means so much to him.”

Preparing for his own success at the world championships, Grothe will be competing in the 400, 800 and 1500-meter freestyles, with hopes of finding himself on the winners’ podium.

“I am excited without a doubt to be racing my three best events at worlds,” Grothe said. “I’ve always dreamt of situations like this, to compete with the best in the world in multiple events and have more than one opportunity to medal.”

The 2019 World Championships in South Korea will be held July 12-28.