RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For three laps, Canada’s Richard Weinberger executed his race plan, but the defending Olympic bronze medallist got bumped out of the lead pack and ultimately finished 17^th in men’s marathon swimming on Tuesday.

Amid choppy waters at Fort Copacabana, Weinberger (Pacific Coast Swimming / Moose Jaw, Sask.) traversed the 10 km in one hour 53 minutes 16.4 seconds. In a pure guts race where the contenders were eight across at one point, the Netherlands’ Ferry Weertman won the gold in 1:52:59.8. Greece’s Spiros Gianniotis grabbed silver with an identical time, while Marc-Antoine Olivier of France claimed the bronze medal in 1:53:02.0.

Weinberger was fifth at the 7.5-km mark. Early in the decisive lap, the intense jockeying for position that sets open water apart from all other forms of racing escalated.

“I was swimming so easy there,” said Weinberger, who was fifth and third in the last two FINA World Cup races prior to Rio. “As the fourth lap started, there was a lot of fighting and open water tactics used by a lot of these guys that don’t cause yellow flags, don’t cause red flags. So I fell back. I was still swimming easy, still swimming strong. I just started having a little bit of breathing issues toward the end.

“When there are a lot of boats I find my throat tends to swell up. We expected that, prepared for that as best we could. Those are the conditions we deal with, and these guys are as tough as nails. I held my cool as long as I could. I was holding stroke, trying to draft off the guys I was racing with. I knew that at around 500 metres [remaining] I’d lost my chance at the podium.

“I’m really happy with my preparation,” Weinberger added. “The past two years I put a lot of preparation into working with my sleep issues and consistent training. I improved tenfold with that. I knew I was strong enough to win this race, it just wasn’t my day.”

“I’m really happy with my preparation,” Weinberger added. “The past two years I put a lot of preparation into working with my sleep issues and consistent training. I improved tenfold with that. I knew I was strong enough to win this race, it just wasn’t my day.”

Weinberger competed in the Olympic test event in Rio, but that was contested in stiller waters.

“Forty-eight hours before the race, a big surf comes in and sinks the pontoon,” he said. “We prepared for everything and it fell off on my part.”

Swimming Canada open water coach Steve Price likened the 6-foot-3, 179-pound Weinberger to “a rabbit” who works best by pushing the pace and forcing rivals to burn energy early. On this day, though, the Olympic field was up to matching it.

“On the back lap, that was when some of the bigger players started to go. You saw that frenzy at the end there – that’s not his strength. He’s not the biggest strongest guy and some of those guys can muscle him out.

“I think he did everything right. You’ve seen the development of the sport in only four years [since London]. The pool of just getting faster and faster. He swam his guts out today but just did not have the speed at the end.

“It’s a gruelling, gruelling race,” Price added. “You tip your cap to all of these guys.

Stéphanie Horner (Bathurst, N.B. / Beaconsfield, Que.) was 23^rd in women’s marathon swimming on Monday.

Full results:

https://www.rio2016.com/en/marathon-swimming-mens-10km