At the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships, the Russian women placed 1st and 3rd in the 25K race. The photo on the left shows the two Russian women - Natalya Pankina (#89) and Ksenia Popova (#37) - in the background at the start.
A split second later, another photo shows Ksenia and Natalya taking their time to start the race vs. their competitors. Eventually, over the next 5+ hours, the two women caught their competitors and placed first (5:27:48) and third (5:27:53) respectively, with superstar Edith van Dijk in a very close second.When asked why she took her time at the start, Natalya answered, "Because I did not want to be traumatised!" giving us a little hint of the aggressiveness of the world's elite female swimmers.
Upper photo by Javier Blazquez. Lower photo from Natalya's Facebook page.
Copyright © 2009 by Open Water Source
1 comment:
OW strategy is a Russian strong point. Ever since they instituted the dive off the dock, I thought it
was a waste of time and energy, not to mention a possible safety hazard. Maybe it's good for media, spectators,etc., but bad for swimmers. I think the Russians have the right idea here.
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