Representing The World At the King Of The Sea Challenge

Sunday's pro 10K King of the Sea Challenge in Brazil kicked off its festivities with a lively press conference in Rio de Janeiro.

With Brazil's top men, Filipe Farias, Fabio Lima, Glauco Rangel and Luis Lima, sharing the King of the Sea podium with their foreign competitors, the men talked about the new 10K race on Copacabana Beach.

When asked about doing five 2K loops with a 100-meter run between each loop, Australia's world 25K championship medalist Trent Grimsey of Australia (representing Oceania) said, "I prefer not to run so far because it is a little hard to get back into the race after a 100-meter run on the [soft] sand, so I think the strategy will be different.."

World 5K championship medalist Chad Ho of South Africa (representing Africa) said, "I am excited to be here. We have similar races at home [where we finish onshore]. So I'll run like at home. It should be a good and fast race."

Daniel Katzir of Israel (representing Asia) said, "The 100-meter run [between 2K loops] is not the same as in races in Israel, but it should be no problem for me. I am excited to be here."

Alexander Studzinski of Germany (representing Europe) said, "All the races in Germany start and finish in the water. I never did this before, so I do not know what to expect. We will see and decide what to do after the first lap."

Trent, Chad, Daniel and Alexander will team up with Ivan Lopez of Mexico (representing the Americas - not shown in picture above). The five men will represent the Five Continents Team.

When asked about representing an entire continent in front of a live nationwide television broadcast in Brazil and a documentary to be broadcast nationwide in China, Trent replied, "I never thought about it like that before, but I try to give 100% in all my races whether I am representing a club, Australia or Oceania."

Chad said, "The pressure of representing Asia does not phase me. I've never thought of representing an entire continent, but I will give 100%."

Daniel said, "There is no pressure, but this will be the most important championship of my life. It will be live on TV, so I am very excited to represent Asia." While Alexander said, "In the race, I will not be thinking about representing a country or a continent, but I will be enjoying the race and giving it my best."

Catch the excitement live online here starting at 10:00 am Rio de Janeiro time on December 13th.

Copyright © 2009 by Steven Munatones