Brennan Gravley won the silver medal finishing behind Spain's Carlos Garach and as the first American was selected to represent Team USA in open water swimming at the World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023. 

Younger brother Dylan Gravley, finished third to round out the podium in Sarasota, Florida

Garach won the 10 km event in a time of 1 hour, 51.05.65 seconds.  The Spanish swimmer led and then held off a pack of experienced American open water swimmers in the final sprint at Nathan Benderson Park.  The new championship venue offered ideal racing conditions for the 240 open water competitors competing at the national championships.

Garach came into the race sporting top-end pool speed having previously won both the 800m and the 1500m events at last year’s World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru. 

In December, the 18-year-old placed 11th and 14th in the short-course pool events at the 16th World Swimming Championships (25m) in Melbourne, Australia. 

Already qualified to represent Spain in the 800m and 1500m freestyle in Fukuoka,  Garach looks like a medal contender in the open water swimming events this July in Japan.

Just 13/100^th of a second separated Garach and the 22-year-old Brennan Gravley. 

Swimming for the University of Florida Gators, Gravley joins women’s 10km winner Katie Grimes in earning the first Team USA spots for the world championships.

Finishing just two seconds after the photo finish winning touch, 20-year-old Dylan Gravley completed the podium.

As age group swimmers the Gravleys trained under Ron Aitken, the head coach of the Sandpipers of Nevada who also coaches Grimes.

Gravley Worlds History

Fukuoka will mark the third time that Brennan Gravley will represent USA. At the Gwangju 2019 worlds, he finished 14^th in the 5K and 15^th in the 25K at Yeosu Expo Ocean Park. 

Last year in Budapest, both brothers raced at the World Aquatics Championships.  Brennan tied for 10th in the 5K and finished 12th in the 10K race. Dylan got a start in the Men’s 10km, finishing just behind his older brother by 2.4 seconds in 13^th place.

Post-Race Interview | Talking Swimming with the Gravley Bros., Brennan & Dylan

Take us back to the 10km race and you two finishing with the silver and bronze medal performances, as the top two Americans.

Brennan (2nd Place): I knew Dylan was on my feet, I can tell just by the way, he's tapping me. You know, as brothers we have a kind of secret language. It was a fun finish and It was a good race. It wasn't too quick in the middle portion so I think that set it up for a fast finish.  We always really appreciate having any foreigners come to the event. I know it's hard to travel across the pond and join us in America but it's really special just to have more guys in the water. I had a really fun time racing Carlos.  I know he's pretty darn fast in the pool and I could feel that (speed) in the sprint. So, it was a lot of fun. And I'm just really happy to be among the top two Americans with my brother. That was our goal. We like doing that. 

Dylan (3^rd Place): That was pretty cool to watch from the back, it was really explosive there at the end. Really the last stretch was the hard part of the race. I don't know his name, but the Spaniard (Carlos Garach) kicked it into high gear in the last 200 meters and we started really cooking. Then, of course, he added his kick, and it just really really blew up there at the end. There was a lot of action ahead of me, guys going back and forth (in the lead).  It was really quick there at the finish. It was a pleasure to finish with those guys, it was a really high-class group.

Brennan, by winning the 10K you received an automatic invitation to your third World Aquatics Championships. What does that mean to you to be a part of the U.S. team in Fukuoka?

Brennan: I'm always grateful for the opportunity.  I think part of being an athlete in America and swimming domestically is there's always going to be kids on your heels. I'm still young myself but as you saw today, there were plenty of guys that came in to finish right with us. This sport is always keeping you honest, and it's very intense. In a setting like this, that is kind of pool-like, not very choppy, it kept us all really close together. I am really excited for the national team roster that we might be able to bring to Fukuoka this summer. I think there's gonna be a lot of cool opportunities. I just can't wait to represent the country again.

Can you tell us about the Day in the Life video you and your brother are a part of?

Dylan: We are part of a video for USA Swimming and it's pretty much everything that we wanted.  To go to the big stage and represent our family and the culture that our family has created. It's been our dream from the very beginning, to be able to represent alongside my brother and to have fun and goof off and just go around, always with a camera in my face.  I love doing that because it's a lot of fun and there's no pressure. 

Brennan: I think it's also pretty rare when you have two brothers in the same event going to World Championships to represent the USA and their family.  I think that's something we've really taken into account and we want to use this video to grow our brand and who we are as brothers in the sport.  I think it's a special thing to have and It's a connection that not many people get to feel in a long race like that. So it's awesome.

Can you talk about the swimmers who you were a year ago, and who you are today?

Dylan: First of all, I was less injured. I broke my collarbone in December so I have been nursing that for a while, taking care of it. I definitely have more experience than I did a year ago. Something that we don't get very often as swimmers that represent the United States is overseas experience. And that's something I got a lot of last summer in Budapest.  It was a first-time experience with the best of the best. 

When you swim with the greatest in the world you always learn quite a few things along the way.  I'd say maybe not so much even speed but just experience.  I think that's something that's very beneficial, if not the most beneficial. Open water offers the experience and the wherewithal to know where you are in the race and to be able to conserve properly.  Just in terms of the mental (aspect), I'm a little bit bigger of a person than I was a year ago.

Brennan: I think experience is the right word. The last time we swam in a venue that was this flat, almost like a pool was in Tempe, Arizona in 2018.  It was kind of surrounded and really protected water very flat like this course. And I think as you can see today, it kept us together really well, it's much easier to draft and work with people. 

Last year's Open Water nationals were in the ocean in Fort Myers and in very, very choppy conditions.  That made it difficult for guys to stick together and even to see each other. I think this was a very new experience, for me, at least domestically that I haven't had in a long time. The last time I swam in a scenario that was this flat, I was one of the guys to try to crawl into that national team spot. And I almost feel like I'm on the back foot trying to defend myself and move forward in that regard.

I'm always learning from the guys, always trying to keep an eye on things around me, learning a lot about myself, learning a lot, and always about how to stay stronger mentally.  It never gets easier doing open water events.

You may think you've got it figured out until one day you come in and you realize you don’t.  Sometimes it's difficult to manage those mental expectations and to adjust to the violence that occurs. I think that a combination of experience and knowledge is the most beneficial thing you get from these kinds of competitions, despite the results.

When did you start open water swimming and what's the appeal of open water? 

Dylan: I think I started swimming in open water events in 2016.  And back then I honestly wasn't very good. I just go really, really hard for it all the time and do what I could to survive as much younger and much smaller, and I couldn't really hold my own.

But as I progressed, I found a love for the contact and the brutality of the sport.  That’s something that you don't really get in the pool is the power to influence another person's race or to have them influence yours. And I believe that dynamic creates something that's more interesting than the pool where you're separated by the lane lines.

A man can only do what he's trained, you know, you get out there and you got 40 bodies. And there's plenty of options that you can take with the race that you can't take in the pool. And through that I favoured open water.

I love the contact and I love the influence that you can have on other people. So that really just found my love for the sport and also I have been chasing Brennan ever since I started. And just to be out there and see his feet to the back of his head and makes me put a smile on my face and keeps me going. And I think there's nothing that connects us more than open water. 

When did you start open water swimming and what's the appeal to open water? 

Brennan:  Well, growing up being a Sandpiper, we started open water pretty, I'd say my first competition was probably 2015 I was born in 2000. So, I think I did an open water sectionals that was pretty fun. And I went to Nationals probably way too young. And it was a very overwhelming experience. I think I sighted every single stroke back then when I did it. So, I fell off pretty quickly. And I distinctly remember saying ‘I will probably never do this again.’ But I ended up making the junior team and had more and more opportunities to do it.

And I think that that kind of culmination of experience and the opportunities we have with USA Swimming is really special. I think the way we support our junior and national teams, domestically and internationally, it feeds into us having a bigger and bigger roster and growing sport.

Most of the time now I'm just trying to have fun and enjoy these competitions. I think it's a very relaxed environment. I think that's what keeps me in it. I think all the guys here have a lot of love for each other. I think outside of the venue, internationally, a lot of the guys really enjoy each other's company.

I think it's the social aspect for me a lot that keeps me in it the relationships I build, here and abroad. And they keep me coming back. And it's also, like Dylan said, the beauty of open waters, it's the most realistic racing environment because you can interact with other people. And it takes a lot of the pressure out of a shorter pool race.

I think smaller guys like us kind of enjoy that and having the opportunity to work with strategy and things like that. As we get older, we can just apply those things more with that experience. 

What's your most feeling in your first most memorable open water experience?

Dylan: I'd probably say going to 2022 Worlds and doing my first 10K with Brennan in Budapest.  Just being in the mix with guys I've idolized for so long and to do it with my brother.  I don't think I've ever been as happy as I was then. And it just really increased my love for the sport even more so.

I've only been to one World Championships but hopefully I can increase that number.  It was a very fast race and I managed to do pretty well.  I think for my first time and to do well and to finish right behind Brennan and I'm able to hold that embrace at the end of the race.

Brennan:  I probably say personally that 25K I swam in Korea was pretty fun.  We ended up having a bit of a typhoon during that race. And that was a pretty humbling experience. But I'd also argue that it could be the first time Dylan finished pretty close to me, at an open water cup event in Las Vegas a few years back during COVID.

A lot of times you turn around after that finish, and you see nobody.  But sometimes you see your little brother coming up right behind you. And that's never been a competitive aspect that has ever frustrated me or made me worry when he’s on my heels. It excites me. 

I think it's a powerful thing to be able to have your brother work with you in the same sport in the same event.  And that was a moment that was really special for me because now we have opportunities for us to work together and feel that sense of connection, love and family, even in the midst of a violent and challenging event. 

So you guys are not known for short answers, but the last question is going to demand only a few words from each of you, please finish this sentence:

Dylan Gravley is ... a fighter!

Brennan Gravley is ... excited.

Postscript

On the final day of the US Open Water Championship,s Brennan Gravley won the Men's 5K finishing in a time of 55:10.65.  Carlos Garach (ESP) and Dylan Gravley finished in 4th and 5th place, respectively