The Mission Viejo Nadadores delivered an impressive showing at the open water national championships Friday in Florida.

Ashley Twichell of the Mission Viejo Nadadores, pictured left, captured the women’s 10K open water national championship to keep her hopes of qualifying for this summer’s Olympics alive.

Twichell finished in 2 hours, three minutes and 6.03 seconds to advance to the Olympic Qualifier Event in Portugal on June 9.

The Nadadores’ Janardan Burns (Aliso Niguel) and David Heron (Mission Viejo) — both high school juniors — finished second and third, respectively, behind male winner Andrew Gemmell.

Burns and Heron both made the U.S. national team with their finishes.

Read the rest of this entry »