Canadian Richard Weinberger is looking to defend his open-water swimming title at the 2015 Pan Am Games with his sights set on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
As he travels the globe competing as one of the world's best open-water swimmers, Canada's Richard Weinberger has encountered waters that have sewage or bacteria, sea lice, jellyfish, unpredictable waves and, occasionally, shark shooters standing by just in case.
The 25-year-old, who grew up in Surrey, B.C., is always amid a wild, splashing pack of aggressive swimmers, their arms and legs kicking and tangling as they try to keep pace in races that last some two hours. There are no pool walls to push off out in the open water. It's a gruelling test of endurance and resolve when fatigue creeps in and starts to bring out that innate fear of the deep. In Weinberger's mind, it's all part of what makes open-water swimming "way more fun than pool swimming."
Weinberger swam to a bronze medal in the 10-kilometre open-water marathon at the 2012 London Olympics. He will be a heavy favourite for gold on Sunday, when he swims out into Toronto's Ontario Place West Channel to defend his title from the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. But what really drives him to train 100 km a week is his deep belief that next summer in Rio de Janeiro, he will capture Olympic gold.
"I'll be 26 in Rio," Weinberger said. "It's the ideal age in open-water swimming and I believe it will be the peak of my career."
In high school, Weinberger was a pool swimmer, specializing in the 200-metre freestyle. He switched to open water because he couldn't stand to see an open-water swimmer at the same pool do more work than him.
Today, he does 10 pool workouts a week with Canadian coach Tom Johnson – mostly endurance swims of 2 hours 15 minutes each. Weinberger says aside from the occasional hike with friends, there is absolutely no time or energy left for other sports or exercise.
Weinberger trains mostly in pools, since limiting exposure to open water that may have harmful bacteria or extreme temperatures is critical to staying healthy. In warm months, he prefers long laps in the 137-m Kitsilano Pool in Vancouver.
"With the gifts he has, he's absolutely capable of winning Olympic gold," said Tyler Fenwick, associate swim coach at the University of Tennessee, who also helped train Weinberger recently in the United States, alongside American open-water swimmers. "He's an aerobic freak and has an engine that is truly special. He's got a pain tolerance that's off the charts and he can handle things that 99.9 per cent of people couldn't."
Competing in a World Cup race in Cozumel, Mexico, this spring, Weinberger performed well enough to qualify for this summer's FINA world championship, but he got very ill, and not just from swimming in the extreme heat. He also emerged from the water covered in an irritating, blotchy, full-body rash that made him sick and nauseous – symptoms he believes were caused by the stings of sea lice.
The sport was heavily scrutinized in 2010 after decorated U.S. swimmer Fran Crippen died during a World Cup race in extreme heat and warm waters in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, and no one noticed until he didn't arrive at the finish line. Open-water swimmers are wired to push through whatever is put before them.
At Ontario Place, the athletes will complete six 1.67-km laps, making a few very quick pit stops at a feeding dock for Gatorade or caffeinated drinks from a coach.
Staying constantly alert within the splashing pack is crucial. Weinberger was in position to win at the 2013 world championship, but finished fifth after being given an extra penalty length because he got jostled in the pack and passed on the wrong side of a buoy. Swimmers strategize about when to feed, stick with the pack or break away.
"The pack picks up around the five-kilometre mark, and if you lose the pack, you could be swimming alone for an hour," Weinberger said. "When you're tired, things creep into your mind, like what's swimming beneath you. That's when you get scared, alone out in the deep water. The adrenaline of being in the pack is what keeps you in it. You pace yourself for 6K because at 8K, that's where the race starts."