Colony junior competes in 10-mile open-water race

PALMER — In her first season in Alaska, Sierra Kinworthy has established herself as one of the top distance swimmers in the state. The Colony High School junior is currently third in Region III and fifth in the state in the 500-yard freestyle.

But for Kinworthy, 500 yards is barely a warm up.

Want to give her a real test?

How about 10 miles.

Kinworthy, who moved with her family from Memphis, Tenn., to the Valley prior to the school year, returned to her old home state earlier in the month to compete in the “Swim the Suck,” a 10-mile race through the waters of the Tennessee River Gorge.

“I love open-water swimming. It’s the coolest,” Kinworthy said recently. “I have been in the water my entire life.”

It wasn’t Kinworthy’s first chance to compete in an open water race. She competed in 1-mile and 3-mile races when she was younger. But Oct. 12, Kinworthy, 16, was the youngest of 77 to compete in the fourth-annual Swim the Suck. She was also among the top swimmers in a field that included Olympians and All-Americans. Kinworthy was eighth overall, fifth in the female class, with a time of 3 hours, 31 minutes and 34 seconds.

Of the seven who finished ahead of Kinworthy, one is a current Division I swimmer and another is a former DI swimmer and 12-time All-American. The winner, Ashley Whitney of Nashville, Tenn., has won Olympic gold in her sport.

Kinworthy said it was exciting to swim against elite athletes in her sport, and she was thrilled about her time. But initially, her primary focus was simply to complete the endeavor.

“My main goal was just to finish,” Kinworthy said.

Kinworthy trained months for the event, spending hours at the Palmer Pool and Alaska Club pool preparing for the 10-mile competition. Her time in the event was just about the best time she logged during training.

“In the pool I had done 3:30. It was pretty cool I did 3:31,” Kinworthy said. “It felt awesome. It felt really great. I’d worked so hard.”

As she trained for the 10-mile race, Kinworthy said she gradually worked toward the distance.

“It was hard establishing a base pace for it,” Kinworthy said.

The long distance open water events begin with a shotgun start. Each swimmer is paired with an escort craft for safety. But there are specific rules for assistance. According to open water racing rules, food or drink may be passed from the escort craft to the swimmer and the craft can assist with navigation, but swimmers cannot receive flotation or propulsion from the craft.

The Swim the Suck race started at the Suck Creek Boat Launch, north of Chattanooga.

Kinworthy said establishing her own space during at the start was difficult. The course sends swimmers downstream through the Tennessee River Gorge, a waterway flanked by the Cumberland Mountains.

“The hardest part was getting started when you’re surrounded by everyone. One little area, and you’re all clumped together,” Kinworthy said.

Kinworthy said her experience swimming competitively helped at the start.

“I was able to kick-start it and go, and settled into my pace,” she said. “I really tried to stay consistent.”

Entering about the seventh mile, facing a headwind, was among the toughest points in the race, she said. But she was able to power through and prevail.

“It’s all about training and positive attitude,” Kinworthy said. “A lot of it is mental. I didn’t try to focus on how much was left.”

Kinworthy started swimming competitively at age 7. After attending a swim camp at the University of Texas in Austin, she was in her first open water races as a 12-year-old.

She was hooked.

Kinworthy learned about the Swim the Suck on Facebook, and has already mapped out open water races she’d like to compete in sometime in the future.

“There’s one in Hawaii I really want to do. You swim around the islands,” she said.

Closer to home, Kinworthy has more immediate goals, including improving her mark in the 500 freestyle, and helping her relay team advance to the state championships.

She has long-term goals too.

“I definitely want to try to swim in college, take it from there and see what I can do,” Kinworthy said. “I want to go as far as I can.”