MIAMI (Dec. 8, 2022) – FIU Athletics is set to host the sixth CSCAA Collegiate Open Water National Championship on Sunday, December 18 at the Biscayne Bay Campus.
 
239 athletes from 41 schools from around the country will compete in a 5K race in the Biscayne Bay. The women's race will feature 141 athletes and the men's race will feature 98 swimmers.
 
"We are excited to bring a national championship event to the FIU campus," FIU Swim and Dive head coach Randy Horner said. "Open water swimming is an exciting event that puts swimmers in a new competitive environment. We welcome teams from around the country to FIU and look forward to hosting a great meet."
 
The Open Water Championship was first held in 2016 at Lone Star Lake in Lawrence, Kansas. The sixth iteration, hosted by FIU, marks the first time the event will take place outside of Lone Star Lake.
 
The Open Water Championship is a key event in this emerging sport as the top five finishers from the men's and women's races qualify to compete in the USA Swimming 5K Open Water Championship.
 
The 41 schools will also be competing for a team championship. Each institution can have up to five swimmers designated to contribute to the team score. Similar to cross country scoring, the team scores are based on the top three finishes with the individual swimmer's placing acting as their points and the team with lowest overall score being crowned champions.
 
The 5K course sits just off the shores of the Biscayne Bay Campus. Athletes will swim four laps around the course that starts in front of the campus, past the mouth of Oleta River, into Biscayne Bay and back.
 
The men's race gets the day started at 8:30 a.m. ET with the women's race starting at 10:00 a.m. ET. Individual champions will be crowned in each race with the top eight finishers also receiving awards.
 
The Panthers will field five swimmers for the Open Water Championship in Madeleine Anderson, Harliai Curthoys-Davies, Christie Chue, Ana Daisson and Ryan Flynn.
 
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