(L-R) Shared silver medal winners Netherlands' Ferry Weertmann, Marcel Schouten and Sharon van Rouwendaal, and Brazil's Allan do Carmo, Ana Marcela Cunha and Diogo Villarinho and Germany's gold medal winners Christian Reichert, Isabelle Franziska Harle and Rob Muffels pose on the podium during the ceremony for the 5 km open-water team event final at the Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Thursday. — AP KAZAN, Russia — Germany won the 5-kilometer team event Thursday for the second consecutive time in open water swimming at the world championships. The trio of Rob Muffels, Christian Reichert and Isabelle Harle finished in 55 minutes, 50.6 seconds on the Kazanka River. Germany also won the title two years ago in Barcelona, led by veteran Thomas Lurz, who has since retired. Marcel Schouten, Ferry Weertman and Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands and Allan Do Carmo, Diogo Villarinho and Ana Cunha of Brazil tied for silver in 55:31.2. Italy finished fourth in 55:49.4, followed by the US trio of Sean Ryan, Jordan Wilimovsky and Ashley Twichell, who touched in 55:50.6. “It was pretty tough out there because it was all choppy at the end and you couldn't really see the buoys,” said Wilimovsky, who already qualified for next year's Olympics with a victory in the 10k. The non-Olympic event was contested in slightly choppy conditions before rain moved in briefly as the 22-team field was finishing. The air temperature was 77 degrees F (25 degrees C) and the water was 73.4 degrees F (23 degrees C). The time trial featured a staggered start of 1 1/2 minutes between the teams made up of two men and a woman. Each team tries to stay together because its time is decided when the last member hits the touchpad. “It's always hard to know what pace you need to swim for the girl, but we have very strong girls,” Weertman said. The men try to propel their female teammate along often by having her draft behind one of them while the other man brings up the rear. “The only job I had was to follow the men. After the first lap it was so hard,” Harle said. “Rob was watching what I did. If I got slower, he got slower, so he's my man. Maybe I'm a little bit afraid of the guys. If I stop, they will kill me.” The Americans stuck close to defending champion Germany in hopes they could draft their way to a place on the podium. “Germany was 30 seconds behind us and passed us pretty much at the end of the first leg and we pretty much stayed with them,” Twichell said. “It's a tough race not knowing where people are.” Muffels earned his second medal at worlds, having earned silver in the 5k. Weertman took silver in the 10k, earning a trip to the Olympics. Stars battle for titles With one eye on Rio de Janeiro, swimming's stars begin the battle Sunday to prove their form heading into the 2016 Olympic Games. As ever, the USA bring a star-studded team to the Tatarstan capital, 800 kilometres east of Moscow, with marquee names including Olympic champions Missy Franklin, Katie Ledecky, Ryan Lochte and Nathan Adrian. Treble world record-holder Ledecky is the only American to top the 2015 world rankings in her events, with the year's best times in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle. Ledecky was responsible for breaking two of the six world records which fell in the Barcelona pool when the world championships were last held two years ago. Franklin won six gold medals in Barcelona, but has something to prove in Kazan after failing to win an event at a Santa Clara meet in June — her only world championships tuneup. Likewise Lochte, who has five Olympic titles and 15 long course world championship victories, is eager to bounce back from a 2014 he called “probably my worst year of swimming.” The Australian challenge will be led by two defending world champions in freestyler Cate Campbell and breaststroker Christian Sprenger. Campbell will get the chance to defend her world title in the women's 100m freestyle and, if all goes to plan, she will line up for the final alongside her sister Bronte and both siblings are potential medallists. But Netherlands' Femke Heemskerk along with Cate Campbell has posted the joint fastest time for 2015 and the Dutch swimmer will be pushing the Australian sisters all the way. Of the teenage talent to watch out for, 18-year-old Australian Mack Horton has posted the world's fastest 400m and 800m freestyle times. Teenage breaststroke sensation Ruta Meilutyte, who won the Olympic 100m breaststroke as a 15-year-old, is now 18 and the Plymouth-based teenager will be looking to defend her world title she won in the event from two years ago. The Lithuanian teen set both the 50m and 100m breaststroke world records at the Barcelona championships two years ago. At the other end of the age spectrum, 35-year-old Grant Hackett returns after an almost seven year hiatus and will swim in the 4x200m relay. Sun Yang, the bad boy of Chinese swimming, leads his nations bid to repeat the five golds they won in Barcelona two years ago. After flopping in Barcelona in 2013 when she failed to take a medal, Ye Shiwen, the Olympic 200m and 400m individual medley champion, has something to prove on the world stage. Hungary's Katinka Hosszu, the world champion over both distances, comes to Kazan on the back of a stellar season and will be out to attack Ye's eye-popping world 400m IM record of four minutes, 28.43secs set at the 2012 Olympics. — Agencies
