Walker Bell of the Santa Barbara Swim Club placed 75th out of 103 finishers in the 5-kilometer swim at the USA Swimming Open-Water Championships in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.
Bell, 13, swimming in the longest race of his young career, finished in 1 hour, 1 minute, 17.63 seconds.
His coach, John Dussliere of the Santa Barbara Swim Club, said he was very impressed with the performance.
“He surpassed where I thought he’d be as he continued to pass people throughout the second lap around the 2500 meter course,” said Dussliere.
Sean Ryan, 18, of Chattanooga, Tenn., took first place in 53 minutes, 11.79 seconds. He led from wire to wire.
The longest distance Bell had completed before the 5k was a mile.
