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"At least there weren't any sharks,'' Patten said.
The 10k took on added significance because it will be part of the swimming program in Beijing, where open water makes its Olympic debut next year.
"It has become more important, especially in the coaches' eyes,'' Patten said. "They see it's an Olympic event, so they're pushing their swimmers into open water more than they did before.''
Brookes-Peterson picked up her second bronze of the meet - she also finished third in the 5k - despite being up most of the previous night with food poisoning or some sort of stomach bug.
"I just put it all behind me,'' she said. "This sets me up great for Beijing.''
But Maurer was bitter about the aggressive tactics of some swimmers. This sport can resemble a wet version of roller derby when they're battling for position in the great, big ocean.
"Everyone was just beating each other up,'' Maurer said. "I have never experienced such a race before. It was horrible.''
Elsewhere Tuesday, China's divers put on another dominating performance, leading the preliminaries of both men's 1-meter springboard and women's 10-meter platform.
Luo Yutong upstaged his No. 1-ranked teammate He Chong by a big margin - 466.50 points to 423.30 - on the board. American Chris Colwill was fourth.
Chen Ruolin blew away the platform field, while defending world champion Laura Wilkinson had a major scare. The 29-year-old American botched three straight dives but pulled it out with her final attempt, a back 2 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists.
She scored high enough to leap from 22nd to 16th, good enough to advance.
"Don't ever, ever give up until it's over,'' said Wilkinson, who has a history of rallying on her final dive.
The semifinals and finals of both diving events will be held Wednesday. The other American woman, 14-year-old Haley Ishimatsu, failed to advance after finishing 29th out of 32 divers.
It was another good day for the Russians.
In addition to Ilchenko's second gold, the country remained perfect in synchronized swimming with its third straight title. The Anastasias - Davydova and Ermakova - won the technical duet with a program of exceptional height, rapid leg movements and complex turns.
The three-time world champs won with a score of 98.333. The Spanish team of Gemma Mengual Civil and Paola Tirados Sanchez claimed the silver (97.500) and Japan's Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki took the bronze (97.167).
The Americans, Christina Jones and Annabelle Orme, were fifth.
The U.S. men got off to a good start in water polo, routing host Australia 9-3. But the Americans have only one medal - a bronze in synchronized swimming - through the first four days of the meet.
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