The open water swimming team event at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships was held on 21 July 2011 off the coast of Jinshan City Beach in Jinshan, Shanghai, China.

The United States won gold with a time of 57:00.6, while Australia won silver with 57:01.8, and Germany won bronze with 57:44.2.

Event description It was the first time this event took place at a world championship. Each country was represented by three swimmers who swam as a team. Each team swam the same 5-kilometre double-loop, with each member of the team starting at the same time. The time it took the last member of the team to complete the course determined the team's time, which determined the finishing positions as in a time trial. A staggered start was implemented, meaning each team was set off individually one minute after the previous team. Teams were required to include at least one man and one woman.

Race The race started at 09:00 CST on 21 July. It took place off the coast of Jinshan City Beach in Jinshan, Shanghai, China.

The United States swam in a single file formation for the entire race to make use of drafting, with Andrew Gemmell in front, followed by Sean Ryan and then Ashley Twichell. The Australian team, consisting of Melissa Gorman, Rhys Mainstone, and Ky Hurst, spread out a bit more, swimming nearer each other's hips. At the end of the first lap, the United States had the fastest split, followed by Germany and then Australia. Over the second lap, the Australians overtook the German's pace and caught up nearly a minute on the United States. The United States won gold with a time of 57:00.6. Australia won silver with 57:01.8, and Germany won bronze with 57:44.2.

After the race, Gemmell said "It was pretty incredible for a 5km race to come down to a single second for two teams that started 10 minutes apart. It just shows you how tight the race was. We did a great job working together as a team."

+ Results Rank Nation Swimmers Time Andrew GemmellSean RyanAshley Twichell 57:00.6 Melissa GormanRhys MainstoneKy Hurst 57:01.8 Jan WolfgartenThomas LurzIsabelle Härle 57:44.2 4 Nicola BolzonelloRachele BruniLuca Ferretti 58:00.5 5 Sergey BolshakovEvgeny DrattsevEkaterina Seliverstova 58:32.7 6 Marianna LympertaAntonios FokaidisSpyridon Gianniotis 59:22.8 7 Ophélie AspordDamien Cattin-VidalSébastien Fraysse 1:00:27.3 8 Fang YanqiaoXu WenchaoZhang Zibin 1:01:02.2 9 Guillermo BertolaCecilia BiagioliGabriel Villagoiz 1:01:34.2 10 Zsófi BalazsAimeson KingRichard Weinberger 1:02:08.7 11 Erwin MaldonadoAngel MoreiraYanel Pinto 1:02:32.0 12 Zaira Cardenas HernandezAlejandra Gonzalez LaraLuis Ricardo Escobar Torres 1:03:23.9 13 Chan Fiona On YiNatasha TangYuen Marcus Yat Ho 1:04:53.4 14 Mazen Mohamed AzizIslam MohsenLaila El Basiouny 1:06:03.4 – Natalie du ToitChad HoTroy Prinsloo

Further information

– Further quotes from the US and Australian swimmers

References