Open Water Swimming Olympians – the Men

25 of the world's best open water swimmers will compete in the men's Olympic 10K Marathon Swim starting at 9:00 pm on August 21st (9:00 pm New York time on August 20th).



David Davies of Great Britain will take out the race at an incredibly fast pace and will turn up the heat on each loop. Will the rest of the field including Vladimir Dyatchin, Thomas Lurz, Maarten van der Weijden, Ky Hurst, Mark Warkentin and Petar Stoychev have enough to stick with him and out-sprint him at the end?

Who do you think is going to win? Vote for your gold medal favorite on the left.

Keep in mind that the men will be swimming outdoors in smog, tremendous heat (high 80ºs or nearly 30 ºC) and humidity (probably between 74-77%).

Leaving nothing to chance, Davies’ preparation is apparently aided by the British military experience in desert and jungle warfare. Britain’s Ministry of Defense has special knowledge and specific training suggestions to handle cramps, dehydration and exhaustion caused by the heat and humidity that will tremendously bear down on the swimmers.

Note: the swimmers are listed in the order they qualified for the Olympics.

1. Vladimir Dyatchin, Russia
2. David Davies, Great Britain
3. Thomas Lurz, Germany
4. Maarten van der Weijden, Netherlands
5. Evgeny Drattsev, Russia
6. Ky Hurst, Australia
7. Mark Warkentin, USA
8. Valerio Cleri, Italy
9. Gianniotis Spyridon, Greece
10. Brian Ryckeman, Belgium
11. Gilles Rondy, France
12. Luis Escobar, Mexico
13. Mohamed El-Zanaty Metwaly Mez, Egypt
14. Saleh Mohammad, Syria
15. Petar Stoychev, Bulgaria
16. Csaba Gercsak, Hungary
17. Rostislav Vitek, Czech Republic
18. Chad Ho, South Africa
19. Erwin Maldonado, Venezuela
20. Allan Do Carmo, Brazil
21. Damian Blaum, Argentina
22. Daniel Katzir, Israel*
23. Jose Francisco Hervas, Spain
24. Arseniy Lavrentyev, Portugal
25. Zu Lijun, China

Note: Daniel Katzir of Israel did not meet the Olympic qualification standards of his national federation, so he may be replaced by another swimmer to be named.

Who do you think will win? Vote on the poll on the left-hand border.

Photo by Erin Greene at the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships with silver medalist David Davies, gold medalist Vladimir Dyatchin and bronze medalist Thomas Lurz pictured from left to right.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association