JINSHAN CITY, China - Hixson resident Sean Ryan finished 25th this morning (Tuesday night EDT) in the men's 10-kilometer open water swim at the World Aquatic Championships. A top-10 finish would have given him a spot in the 2010 Olympics in London.
Greece's Spyros Gianniotis won the race in 1 hour, 54 minutes, 24.7 seconds, leaving defending champion Thomas Lurz of Germany as the silver medalist, 2.5 seconds behind. Both are 31. Russia's Sergey Bolshakov, 23, was third in the event at Jinshan City Beach, about an hour from host city Shanghai, and Alex Meyer of the United States was fourth.
Gianniotis broke free of a big pack of swimmers after the final turn and passed Lurz and Britain's Daniel Lee Fogg, who had led for most of the race.
Ryan, soon to start his sophomore year at Michigan, and 2010 Harvard graduate Meyer competed together also in the 25k open water event in Italy, and Meyer will be in the 25k again Saturday. Ryan will swim Friday in the 5k, which he won in the U.S. nationals, and Thursday in a three-person team event.