Open Water Shots From The World Championships

The 2009 World Swimming Championships finished this weekend in Rome. FINA took some great photos from the open water swimming events held in Ostia Beach:

Photo of the women's lead pack by Matthais Hangst.

"It was rougher and faster than I thought it would be," recalled first-time competitor Emily Brunemann who placed a respectible 9th in the 5K and 24th in the 10K race.


Photo of the feeding station by Matthais Hangst showing a wide variety of feeding sticks.

There are regulations on the length or type of the feeding sticks that can be used including the size of the flag at the end that must be limited in size.


Photo by Matthais Hangst of silver medalist Andrew Gemmell congratulating his American teammate and bronze medalist Fran Crippen after the protested 10K race.

Notice the lanolin that has coagulated around their bodies and the timing transponders on both wrists.



Photo by Matthais Hangst of the large Italian crowds that cheered on their Italian heroes and all the other open water competitors from 42 different nations.

Open Water Back On At Ostia

After an anxious 24 hours of uncertainty, the open water swimmers were informed today that the 5K, 10K and 25K world championship races will be held at Ostia Beach.

Despite talk of holding the races at Lac Bracciano, FINA announced this Sunday morning that the men's and women's 5K races are on Tuesday at Ostia Beach.

The local organizers are busy recovering from the damage caused by strong winds and heavy surf to hold the race within 48 hours.

Photos by Andrew Gemmell before (above) and after (left) the weather hit Rome show the devastation at Ostia Beach. We will cover the 5K races live at Twitter.

Men's 5K World Championship Field Announced

The men's 5K field at the World Swimming Championships was confirmed today in Ostia. The 43 competitors' bib number, name and country are listed below.

The bib number is included because fans can see the athletes' number due to the high-definition TV coverage and the 7 cameras on the race course:

1. Orei Jeffrey (ANT)
2. Kareem Valentine (ANT)
3. Andrew Beato (AUS)
5. Trent Grimsey (AUS)
10. Luis Rogerio Arapiraca (BRA)
12. Luiz Eduardo Lima (BRA
16. David Creel (CAN)
17. Philippe Dubreuil (CAN)
19. Kurt Niehaus (CRC)
22. Jakub Fichtl (CZE)
23. Jan Posmourny (CZE)
26. Esteban Enderica (ECU)
27. Ivan Enderica (ECU)
30. Francisco Jose Hervas (ESP)
31. Diego Nogueira Montero (ESP)
32. Loic Branda (FRA)
34. Julien Sauvage (FRA)
36. Richard Charlesworth (GBR)
39. Alfie Howes (GBR)
40. Thomas Lurz (GER)
42. Jan Wolfgarten (GER)
43. Antonios Fokaidis (GRE)
44. Spyridon Gianniotis (GRE)
45. Csaba Gercsak (HUN)
46. Gergely Gyurta (HUN)
52. Luca Ferretti (ITA)
53. Simone Ruffini (ITA)
54. Mohammed Jassim Alghareeb (KSA)
56. Daniel Delgadillo (MEX)
60. Andrew McMillan (NZL)
62. Daniel Viegas (POR)
63. Chad Ho (RSA)
64. Daniel Marais (RSA)
67. Evgeny Drattsev (RUS)
68. Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS)
71. Tomas Vachan (SVK)
73. Igor Chervynskiy (UKR)
75. Kostiantyn Ukradyga (UKR)
76. Francis Crippen (USA)
77. Andrew Gemmell (USA)
80. Yvan Hernandez (VEN)
81. Angel Moreira (VEN)

World Championship 5K Women's Field Announced

The women's 5K field at the World Swimming Championships was confirmed today in Ostia. The 42 competitors' bib number, name and country are listed below.

The bib number is included because fans can see the athletes' number due to the high-definition TV coverage and the 7 cameras on the race course:

1. Karin Clashing (ANT)
2. Kate Brookes-Peterson (AUS)
5. Melissa Gorman (AUS)
7. Isabelle Longo (BRA)
8. Poliana Okimoto (BRA)
10. Bridget Coley (CAN)
11. Nadine Williams (CAN)
13. Xue Li (CHN)
14. Yu Shi (CHN)
16. Jana Pechanova (CZE)
17. Silvie Rybarova (CZE)
18. Katia Barros (ECU)
19. Nataly Caldas Calle (ESP)
22. Yurema Requena Juarez (ESP)
25. Coralie Codevelle (FRA)
29. Katy Whitfield (GBR)
30. Charlotte Woolliscroft (GBR)
32. Britta Kamrau-Corestein (GER)
34. Nadine Pastor (GER)
35. Marianna Lymperta (GRE)
36. Wing Yung Natasha Terri Tang (HKG)
37. Vanessza Balogh (HUN)
38. Rachele Bruni (ITA)
39. Giorgia Consiglio (ITA)
44. Patricia Castaneda (MEX)
45. Alejandra Gonzales (MEX)
49. Alannah Jury (NZL)
50. Daniela Inacio (POR)
51. Dominique Dryding (RSA)
52. Natalie du Toit (RSA)
53. Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)
55. Ekatarina Seliverstova (RUS)
57. Nika Kozamernik (SLO)
58. Iris Matthey-Jaquet (SUI)
59. Swann Gabrielle Oberson (SUI)
60. Lucia Vachanova (SVK)
61. Alona Berbasova (UKR)
62. Olga Beresneva (UKR)
63. Emily Brunemann (USA)
65. Emily Hanson (USA)
66. Patricia Maldonado (VEN)
67. Andreina Pinto Perez (VEN)

World's Aquatic Stars Descend Upon Rome

Dozens different national teams arrived in Rome today for the upcoming World Swimming Championships. Street posters and large billboards throughout the airport and city greeted the world's best aquatic athletes to the Eternal City.

One billboard often seen showed Italian open water swimming star Valerio Cleri.

Valerio was the 2008 FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit champion.

But the Italians also had a great way to combine their ancient history with contemporary swimming - see street poster on left.

With the expected weather to be sunny and warm throughout the 5K, 10K and 25K championships, the competition should be hot.

Before young Australian open water swimming star Danielle DeFrancesco departed from Brisbane with her teammates this morning, she echoed the sentiments of many other athletes who will be experiencing their first major international championship, "It's my first world championships and I just want to enjoy the experience. I have no big plans, I just need to swim a good time."

For fans of pool swimming, water polo, diving, synchronized swimming and open water swimming, Rome will be providing a good time over the next 3 weeks. We will be twittering live from Rome and Ostia Beach where the open water events will be held (http://twitter.com/swimopenwater).

152 Open Water Swimmers To Compete In Rome

FINA has confirmed the participation of 152 athletes from 40 countries in the open water races at the Rome World Swimming Championships starting on July 19th. 41 men and 42 women are entered in the 5K. 47 men and 43 women are entered in the 10K. 23 men and 17 women are entered in the 25K.

However, 5 countries with a total of 10 men and 1 women have yet to confirm the participation of their open water swimmers, which may boost the final figure upwards a bit.

According to FINA, 2,556 athletes from 185 countries will compete at the Foro Italico venue (pool for swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming) and Ostia Beach (site for open water swimming).

To date, the number of qualified athletes for the World Swimming Championships include:

• 1,470 swimmers from 164 countries
• 200 divers from 43 countries
• 416 water polo players from 21 countries
• 269 synchronized swimmers from 41 countries
• 152 open water swimmers from 40 countries

Photo of the 2008 men's world 10K championship start in Seville, Spain by Javier Blazques.

It's A Small World...Getting Bigger

182 national federations and 2,848 athletes will participate in the 13th FINA World Swimming Championships. At the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, there were 167 countries and 2,158 athletes. The final numbers in Rome could increase in the weeks to come as final entries are soon due.

In 1973, at the first FINA championships in Belgrade, there were 47 countries in attendance.

The global growth in aquatic sports can be seen below in the number of countries that have sent their best athletes to FINA world championships:



1973 - Belgrade, Yugoslavia - 47
1975 - Cali, Colombia - 39
1978 - Berlin, Germany - 49
1982 - Guayaquil, Ecuador - 52
1986 - Madrid, Spain - 34
1991 - Perth, Australia - 60
1994 - Rome, Italy - 102
1998 - Perth, Australia - 121
2001 - Fukuoka, Japan - 134
2003 - Barcelona, Spain - 157
2005 - Montreal, Canada - 144
2007 - Melbourne, Australia - 167
2009 - Roma, Iitaly - 182

The open water swimming competition schedule for Rome is posted here.

Talking about more people, the two photos above show the open water swimming venue on a weekday and on a weekend when more people flock to Ostia Beach in Rome, site of the 5K, 10K and 25K races.

Something Very Special In Rome

Shelley Taylor-Smith, the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee Honorary Secretary provided this on-site report of the World Swimming Championships open water venue.

"The World Championships in are going to be very special," was Shelley's succinct assessment of the venue, operations and organization. The details include:

Women's 5K Start at 8:30 am on July 19th
Men's 5K Start at 11:00 am on July 19th
Women's 10K Start at 10:00 am on July 21st
Men's 10K Start at 10:00 am on July 22nd
Women's 25K Start at 8:30 am on July 24th
Men's 25K Start at 8:30 am on July 25th

All races will consist of a 2.5K loop in the counter-clockwise direction with four mandatory turn buoys with corner "sausage" arced buoys (as used in the Beijing Olympic Games and the 2007 Melbourne World Swimming Championships (see photo on left). Yellow buoys will be placed every 200 meters, but they are only directional and swimmers may swim around them on either side.

The start for all the open water races will be from a deep water start (i.e., the dive start rule will not be in effect due to the open sea venue this year).

There will be two feeding stations for 10K and 25K. Accredited Access bracelets will be provided to coaches so they can gain access to the feeding pontoons. There will not be any escort boats for 25K races.

Pontoon #1 will be located at the start and finish area where the coaches can directly access off the beach. Pontoon #2 will be positioned at turn #3. Coaches will be taken by boat to Pontoon #2. The pontoon is a barge which is 24 meters in length and 7 meters wide with toilets and a kitchen.

For the athletes, there will be two 50-meter outdoor pools and one 25-meter pool in addition to the sea competition venue for all pre- and post-race training in Ostia.

Transport shuttle buses will be operating between the hotels and the training pools and competition venue. Accreditation for the national federations including coaches, athletes and team managers will be set up in Ostia.

In a first for FINA competitions, there will be a second call room in order to facilitate the checking of technical swimsuits in accordance with FINA rules between 30-45 minutess before the start of each race.

As we previously reported, Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), the biggest television broadcaster in Italy, will have 5 cameras on land and 2 cameras in the water, providing live coverage throughout Europe, to a large screen on the beach and at the Open Water Swimming Village on the beach at Ostia. A Team Leaders Guide Handbook will be made available on the FINA website.

Photo shows (from left) Andre Saugy of Omega Swiss Timing Ltd., Gianni Minervina, Organzing Committee Rome 09 Associate Director (an Olympic breaststroker from 1984, 1988 and 1992), Sid Cassidy, Chairman of the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and Shelley Taylor-Smith.

Looking Forward to a Great World Championships

208 entries from nearly 40 national federations have been received for the 5K, 10K and 25K races at the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome. This represents an unprecedented number of swimmers in the open water swimming portion of the championships and reflects the global growth in our sport.

With a live TV feed and a special open water swimming village, the World Championships will be something special.

Held a week before the pool competition begins, it will also be very interesting to see what technical swimsuits the athletes will wear.

Additionally, FINA will launch its formal pre-race inspection procedures for the first time ever at the open water swimming competition in Ostia, Rome - several days before the pool competition. This pre-race inspection procedure will confirm that all technical swimsuits conform to the new FINA guidelines. It may be that many pool representatives will be at the open water swimming competition just to see first-hand exactly how these procedures will be implemented. Stay tuned.

The Italian Passion for Open Water Swimming

FINA Technical Open Water Swim Committee members conducted a site inspection of the 2009 World Swimming Championships this week. Feeding the deep passion for open water swimming in Italy, we are happy to report the races will be broadcast live and an Open Water Village will be constructed on the beach overlooking the courses.


The 5K, 10K and 25K open water courses are located along the public beach area in the popular seaside area of Ostia. Ostia is the only municipio of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Responding to the interest in open water swimming throughout Europe, Radiotelevisione Italiana or RAI, the biggest television broadcaster in Italy, will have 7 cameras at the venue with 2 providing a live feed from the water back to a large screen on the beach and onto RAI TV in Europe. We will also cover the events live via Twitter.com/swimopenwater.

It will the first time that live television coverage of all six open water races will be broadcast - another indicator of the growing global interest in our sport.

The rectagular courses are expected to be flat without currents and will only become wavy if inclement weather occurs. The courses will have 2.5K loops for each of the 5K, 10K and 25K races. Training facilities for the swimmers include two 50-meter outdoor swimming pools and one 25-meter swimming pool.

Exciting times are expected when our sport's biggest stars are broadcast live and treated so well by their hosts.

Swimming from Sydney to Rome to England to France

Brendan Capell and Shelley Clark recently won the Australian 25K national championship, qualifying them for the 2009 World Swimming Championships. After Rome, they will be heading to England to participate in the Great Channel Swim across the English Channel.

Brendan (shown on left), the 2004 world 25K champion, outsprinted his training partner David Browne, winning by slim 6 seconds. Shelley Clark (shown below) had a much easier time winning by 800 meters.

In discussions with Brendan about the English Channel, he says, "I'm very excited about this oppotunity. Not so much nervous as I have done a lot of long swims before and to be able to swim the channel has always been a dream of mine. Thanks to Nova-International, this race will make it possible sooner that I could achieve. To be able to swim what is the 'Everest' or pinnacle of marathon swimming in a race format against the world's best is awesome and will do great things for the interest and health in our sport."

"The Lac St Jean [professional marathon] is the closest race to the [English] channel that I have done and both time I have done it I have finished quite strongly and handled the conditions well."

Shelley tells a similar story, "I am super excited about having the opportunity to not only swim the English Channel, but to be able to race it. It has always been a swim I wanted to do, but never thought I would have the opportunity too, due to the costs that come with individual crossings of the Channel."

An incredible summer is coming up in Europe for two of Australia's best marathon swimmers. We wish them good luck.

Nike Swim Miami Preparations for Rome

The 2009 World Swimming Championships will be held in Rome between July 18th to August 2nd. The men’s and women’s 5K race is on July 19th; the women’s 10K race is on July 21st, the men’s 10K is on July 22nd; the women’s 25K race is on July 24th and the men’s 25K race is on July 26th.

The qualification race for the American and Canadian teams will be jointly held in Ft. Myers, Florida on June 14th.

In preparation for that all-important qualification race in Florida, several top contenders from around the U.S., the Caribbean and South America are planning to compete in the Nike Swim Miami on April 25th. The Nike Swim Miami will be the only highly competitive 10K race in the U.S. before the joint American-Canadian World Championship Selection Meet.

Ashley Whitney, an Olympic gold medalist from the 1996 Olympics, is expected to be among the top swimmers in Miami. Ashley (shown on left) is a 2009 National Team member based on her 4th place finish at the 2008 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships in Minneapolis. Ashley will be pushed in the warm waters of the Nike Swim Miami by Eva Fabian, the dynamo from Greenwood Memorial Swim Club.

At the June World Championship Selection Meet, Ashley and Eva will face veterans Chloe Sutton and Kirsten Groome for the coveted world championship team slots.

2009 FINA World Championship Schedule Announced

The 2009 FINA World Swimming Championships announced its schedule. The women's and men's 5K races is on July 19th; the women's 10K race is on July 21st; the men's 10K race is on July 22nd; the women's 25K race is on July 24th; the men's 25K race is on July 25th.

AP Photo by Gregorio Borgia.

Underwater Views of Pool and Open Water Swimmers

At the 2009 World Swimming Championships, FINA may institute an underwater camera system that will enable judges to see almost-instant video footage of any part of a race where a possible disqualification may have occurred. Very cool.

It would be, however, much tougher to do that in the open water swimming events. However, the global open water swimming community will probably be able to enjoy some great underwater photos of the 5K, 10K and 25K competitors at the Rome World Championships,

Underwater photo of the men going around a turn buoy at the 10K race at the European Open Water Swimming Championships by Giorgio Scala of Deep Blue Media

Copyright © 2008 by Open Water Source

2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome

The tentative dates for the open water races at the 2009 World Swimming Championships are July 19th (women's and men's 5K), July 21st (women's 10K), July 22nd (men's 10K), July 24th (women's 25K) and July 25th (men's 25K - although the race may be combined with the women's 25K race on July 24th).

NBC will televise the 2009 World Swimming Championships, although coverage of the open water races is currently not planned.

The location of the races has not been confirmed, but one strong candidate is "Rome's beach" a stretch of the Mediterranean coast near the Rome airport where the water is usually water and rough.

Photo of Larisa Illchenko, Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold medalist, winning her first gold medal at the 2004 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Dubai over Ksenia Popova of Russia and Sara McLarty of the USA. Photo by Steven Munatones.

2009 World Swimming Championships

FINA announced its plans for the 13th FINA World Swimming Championships to be held in Rome, Italy between July 18th and August 2nd, 2009.

The 2006 World Open Water Swimming Championships were also held in Rome, but the 5K, 10K and 25K race courses have not yet been announced by FINA.

On a slightly related note, Andrew Page of Australia and the worldwide growth of masters open water swimming received a nice write-up on the FINA website. The article can be found here .