Carlin vows to toughen up after first European open water

9 Aug 2018

Jazz Carlin has said she is going to toughen up for future open water races after completing her first European Championships away from the pool.

The 27-year-old, who has five European medals in the pool, was competing in just her fourth race in the marathon 10km discipline, finishing  14th overall.

She 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."

The race on Loch Lomond was won by Olympic Champion Sharon Van Rouwendaal, who also won the 5km event yesterday. The top placed Brit was Alice Dearing, who finished 12th.

Dearing said:  "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."

Danielle Huskisson finished shortly behind Carlin in 15th place.