An Inspirational Victory and a Huge Thank You

It was an inspirational experience to watch Maarten van der Weijden streak to victory in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in one of the most memorable races in open water swimming history. Maarten truly showed the heart of a champion.

A global TV audience was treated to two incredible races in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim on NBC Olympics.com.

Everyone's positive comments and online questions were greatly appreciated. Hundreds of emails came in, so please be patient as we will work to answer them all. Your support and interest in open water swimming is greatly appreciated.

Paul Asmuth, who was one of coaches on the feeding station, said this of Mark's effort today, "He swam a really strategic race. His feedings went well and he was in good position. He swam real well. It was an exciting race, the other guys just had a little more at the end. Towards the end, Maarten drafted off of David Davies and they just got a big separation quickly."

All the men worked to put on a very entertaining race. Congratulations to everyone.

Final results 2008 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim:

GOLD - Maarten van der Weijden, 1:51:51.6
SILVER - David Davies, 1:51:53.1 (1.5 seconds behind leader)
BRONZE - Thomas Lurz, 1:51:53.6 (2.0 seconds behind leader)
4 - Valerio Cleri, 1:52:07.5 (15.9 seconds behind leader)
5 - Evgeny Drattsev, 1:52:08.9 (17.3 seconds behind leader)
6 - Petar Stoychev, 1:52:09.1 (17.5 seconds behind leader)
7 - Brian Ryckeman, 1:52:10.7 (19.1 seconds behind leader)
8 - Mark Warkentin, 1:52:13.0 (21.4 seconds behind leader)
9 - Chad Ho, 1:52:13.1 (21.5 seconds behind leader)
10 - Erwin Maldonado, 1:52:13.6 (22.0 seconds behind leader)
11 - Ky Hurst, 1:52:13.7 (22.1 seconds behind leader)
12 - Igor Chervynskiy, 1:52:14.7 (23.1 seconds behind leader)
13 - Francisco José Hervás, 1:52:16.5 (24.9 seconds behind leader)
14 - Allan do Carmo, 1:52:16.6 (25.0 seconds behind leader)
15 - Gilles Rondy, 1:52:16.7 (25.1 seconds behind leader)
16 - Spyridon Gianniotis, 1:52:20.4 (28.8 behind leader)
17 - Rostislav Vitek, 1:52:41.8 (50.2 behind leader)
18 - Luis Escobar, 1:53:47.9 (1:56 behind leader)
19 - Saleh Mohammad, 1:54:37.7 (2:46 behind leader)
20 - Mohamed El Zanaty, 1:55:17.0 (3:25 behind leader)
21 - Damian Blaum, 1:55:48.6 (3:57 behind leader)
22 - Arseniy Lavrentyev, 2:03:39.6 (11:48 behind leader)
23 - Xin Tong, 2:09:13.4 (17:21 behind leader)
24 - Csaba Gercsak, did not finish
25 - Vladimir Dyatchin, disqualified in a time of 1:52:13.7 (22.1 seconds behind leader)

Photo of Maarten van der Weijden, leukemia survivor and Olympic champion.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association