It was the story of the old man and the young upstart side-by-side on the sea in the 78th annual La Jolla Rough Water Swim.
Youth prevailed in the featured three-mile Gatorman race, as Deni Cullom darted out of the water and up the short beach run ahead of five-time champion Alex Kostich to claim his first victory by 19 seconds over a triangular course off La Jolla Cove yesterday.
“He had me going the entire way,” said Cullom, 17, of Dana Point, who swam even with Kostich from the half-mile juncture. “I was worried until the last two steps of the race.”
Kostich stumbled on the final run but had no misgivings about how he kept pace with his teenage counterpart from the famed Mission Viejo Nadadores swim club.
“I'm really happy,” said Kostich, of Los Angles. “I'm 38. I'm glad there are these whippersnappers moving up and enjoying the sport.”
Cullom finished in 58 minutes, 13 seconds. Behind Kostich (58:32) was another youngster, 16-year-old Tim O'Malley (1:01:04) of Riverside.
Yesterday's times were unofficial, pending review, because of a malfunction in the automated timing system.
Dawn Heckman, who trains with Kostich in Pasadena, won the women's race in 1:01:05 by four minutes, ahead of Olympian Chloe Sutton, who practices with Cullom.
Sutton placed 22nd among 25 entries in the 10-K open-water swim as the only American in the event offered for the first time at the Beijing Games. Four U.S. Olympians who competed in the men's field of the La Jolla event last year skipped it this time.
“I can't stay out of the water too long,” said Sutton, 16, of Ladera Ranch, who competed in the Olympics on Aug. 20. “Racing in the ocean is my passion. I wanted to get back as fast as I could.”
In the Olympics, Sutton faded on the second of four laps because of fatigue resulting from an intestinal illness. Entering this race, she was uncertain about how she would perform after returning to practice a week ago.
Heckman pulled away from Sutton (1:05:08) midway through the race. Jacqueline Corcoran (1:05.28), of Venice, placed third.
“I had no idea about my lead (down the final leg),” said Heckman, 31, a former national team member from the University of Florida. “I was just swimming to land.”
In the men's 1-mile master race, La Jolla's Ben Watson emerged from a three-way grouping at the end to win for the first time in his 20 straight years of swimming at various levels of the event.
“That was a great race,” said Watson, 27, a former swimmer at La Jolla High and UC Santa Cruz. “The competitors were amazing. For me, the key was the second leg. Instead of using all my energy, I used a good draft and let it work.”
Steve Worthy, of Scottsdale, Ariz., placed second, followed by Nate Moore, of Cave Creek, Ariz. (20:05).
The women's race went to UCSD assistant men and women's swim coach Corrie Falcon, who quickly went ahead to prevail by more than two minutes (20:04).
“I wanted to inspire some of my swimmers who were here and let them know that I'm not an old dog,” said Falcon, 29, of La Jolla. “Also, from the UCSD swim camps, there were some juniors and parents. So I said, 'OK, I'll give them a little show.' ”
Falcon, who was eighth in last year's Gatorman race, breezed at the shorter distance, ahead of Heather DiLuzio (22:30), of Albuquerque, N.M., and Susie Fawcett (22:27), of Chandler, Ariz.
The Gatorman race had 567 entries among some 2,500 overall.
