Open Water Swimming - Van Rouwendaal wins 5km title in Loch Lomond

GLASGOW (Reuters) - Dutch Olympic champion Sharon van Rouwendaal won the first Open Water swimming title at the European Championships on Wednesday, leading from the start in Loch Lomond to take the 5km gold.

Van Rouwendaal, who won her 2016 Olympic gold over 10km, covered the shorter course in 56 minutes and 01.0 seconds to finish 16.8 seconds clear of Germany's Leonie Beck (56:17.8) while Italy's Rachele Bruni won bronze in 56:49.7.

(Reporting by Ian Chadband; Editing by Christian Radnedge)