Sharon van Rouwendaal completed an incredible open water swimming double at the 2018 European Championships.

The Dutch swimmer was pushed all the way by Italian Giulia Gabrielleschi during the women’s 10km final in Loch Lomond, but she held on to win gold and add to the 5km she won a day earlier.

Van Rouwendaal, who is also the reigning Olympic champion over 10km, posted a winning time of 1:54:45.7 at Glasgow 2018.

At the halfway stage she only had an advantage of around three seconds but, despite strong pressure from Gabrielleschi, van Rouwendaal had extended that lead to seven seconds by the time she reached the finish.

24 hours earlier, van Rouwendaal won the 5km title in 56:01.0 from German Leonie Antonia Beck (56:17.8) and Italian Rachele Bruni (56:49.7).

Men’s Olympic champion Ferry Weertman ensured a Dutch double over 10km, but only after a photo-finish in a dramatic conclusion to the men’s race.

Hungarian Kristof Rasovsky, who had already won the men’s 5km title, led for the majority of the 10k, but Weertman charged hard at the end to draw level as both finished in 1:49:28.2. Officials looked into the finish, and awarded it to Weertman for his third successive European Championship title.

Britain’s Jack Burnell finished seventh in the 10km race, with a time of 1:49:37.1. Fellow Brit Tobias Robinson was ninth in 1:49:47.5.

Burnell said: “It was a sore ending in Rio and a bit of a sore ending here too. It was a bit physical out there and in wetsuits, but I’m not making any excuses.

“It hasn’t gone the way I’ve wanted, with two broken ribs in one season so wan’t coming into this fully fit.”

Polly Holden finished 13th in the women’s 5km race with a time of 58:20.9, and there were also three British finishers inside the top 15 over 10km.

Alice Dearing was 12th in 1:58:39.3, Jazz Carlin was 14th in 1:58:46.0 and Danielle Huskisson was 15th in 1:59:37.3.

For Carlin, it was a first taste of the European Championships away from the indoor pool, and she said she needs to toughen up for future races.

Carlin said: “It’s my first international tough competition so I didn’t really know what to expect. I made a few decisions that didn’t pay off, so it’s about learning and finding out what works best for me. It did surprise me how physical it was, but I’ve just got to toughen myself up a bit really.”

Dearing added: “I ended up placing a lot higher than I thought I would. It was fine going out but coming back on the long straight was very wavy so that made it a lot harder.

“There’s a lot I can learn from this — there’s a lot I know I can work on now, like hard endurance and being able to keep up with the pace. I know I have the speed finishing, so I know if I can keep up with the pace I can do well.”

Just 0.1 seconds stopped van Rouwendaal from claiming a third gold at the weekend. She had to settle for silver in the women’s 25km race on Sunday, just missing out to Bridi, while Rasovszky won the men’s race over the same distance.

In Saturday’s team event, the British team of Huskisson, Robinson, Carlin and Burnell just missed out on a bronze medal.

They finished fourth in 52:51.3, 4.6 seconds behind third-placed France. The Netherlands won gold, with Germany taking silver.

European Championships 2018 – Open Water Swimming Results

Women’s 5km
GOLD: Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands) 56:01.0
SILVER: Leonie Antonia Beck (Germany) 56:17.8
BRONZE: Rachele Bruni (Italy) 56:49.7

Men’s 5km
GOLD: Kristof Rasovszky (Hungary) 52:38.9
SILVER: Axel Reymond (France) 52:41.7
BRONZE: Logan Fontaine (France) 52:44.4

Women’s 10km
GOLD: Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands) 1:54:45.7
SILVER: Giulia Gabrielleschi (Italy) 1:54:53.0
BRONZE: Esme Vermeulen (Netherlands) 1:55:27.4

Men’s 10km
GOLD: Ferry Weertman (Netherlands) 1:49:28.2
SILVER: Kristof Rasovszky (Hungary) 1:49:28.2
BRONZE: Rob Muffels (Germany) 1:49:33.7

Team Event
GOLD: Netherlands 52:35.0
SILVER: Germany 52:35.6
BRONZE: France 52:46.7

Women’s 25km
GOLD: Arianna Bridi (Italy) 5:19:34.6
SILVER: Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands) 5:19:34.7
BRONZE: France Lara Grangeon (France) 5:19:42.9

Men’s 25km
GOLD: Kristof Rasovszky 4:57:53.5
SILVER: Kirill Belyaecv (Russia) 4:57:54.6
BRONZE: Matteo Furlan (Italy) 4:57:55.8

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