TOKYO, Japan – In her Olympic Games debut, Kate Sanderson of Toronto, battled the heat to finish 18^th in the Olympic Marathon swimming event.

Sanderson, 21, started off strong going out in third and held on with the lead pack for the first four laps of the race before losing contact with the pack for the last three laps.

“I thought the first part of the race went well, my goal is to always put myself in a good spot. It’s a long race so you always want to go for it in the beginning,” said Sanderson. “I didn’t hold on as well as I hoped to but overall I’m really happy with my effort.”

The hot weather conditions at the Odaiba Marine Park made for tough racing conditions. The water temperatures reached a high of 29.3 degrees Celsius.

“It definitely affected the race a lot but it was tough for everyone,” said Sanderson. “I knew that if I was hot then other people were hot and we had anticipated that coming to Japan so it wasn’t a surprise but overall it was warm conditions.”

Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha won gold after staying in the top three for the majority of the race. Netherland’s Sharon Van Rouwendaal was second to finish and Australia’s Kareena Lee took bronze.

Sanderson, who was the second youngest swimmer in the field of 25 competitors, qualified for the Olympic Games by coming third at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier in Portugal back in June.

Sanderson said being at the Olympic Games in Tokyo means everything.

“I’ve just been so overwhelmed by the experience and it’s just a dream come true,” said Sanderson. “All my family and friends are watching so it just means so much to so many people and I’m just so happy to be here.”

“It’s really motivating being surrounded by all these different athletes and it has just been a really great experience being here.”

“I am exceptionally proud of Kate. I thought it was a really gritty effort,” said Mark Perry, Swimming Canada National Distance and Open Water Coach. “It was a tough swim and she got herself in a really good place and obviously the conditions got to her a little bit. I think she prepared the best she could and she will take a lot of learning away from this. She is really tough and she’ll come back stronger.”

“[Kate] was the second youngest swimmer in the race by 3 months. I think some of these younger women are the future of the sport and they learn a lot from these experiences and racing in these different conditions and I think the future is good for her,” said Perry.

Hau-Li Fan, of Burnaby, B.C., will race tomorrow in the men’s 10-km for his Olympic debut.

Full results: https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/marathon-swimming/olympic-schedule-and-results.htm