Sutton led the women's field during the first part of the race, but battled with Brazilian swimmer Poliana Okimoto throughout the final leg. Sutton out swam Okimoto to the finish to win gold at 2 hours, 13 minutes and 47.6 seconds. Okimoto finished eight tenths behind at 2:13:48.4 for the silver and Canada's Tanya Hunks won bronze at 2:13:50.05. Team USA's Kalyn Keller finished fourth at 2:14:20.09.
"After (swimming) World Championships this year I thought I wouldn't compete in open water again," Sutton said. "But I did well at other meets and I gained more experience which brought my confidence back. It's the best thing that could have happened."
Crippen and Peterson swam together throughout the entire race, but Crippen pulled ahead on the final sprint to the finish to win gold. Crippen finished in 2 hours, 2 minutes and 24.1 seconds and Peterson finished at 2:02:29.2. Brazilian swimmer Allan Carmo took home the bronze at 2:03:53.7.
"It's a great start to the Games," Crippen said. "It was a great crowd and all in all a great venue. The water was choppy but we expected that. We came and trained here so we had an idea of what it would be like."
The 10K open water swimming competition marked the event's first-ever appearance in the Pan American Games. The open water 10K event will make its first Olympic appearance at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
About USA Swimming: As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit USA Swimming on-line.
