Photo Finish at the Mexican Selection Trials

Outsiders think of open water swimmers more in terms of endurance rather than sprinting ability...but the top Mexican men proved that sprint speed makes all the difference at the Mexican Swimming Federation's (Federacion Mexicana de Natacion) 5K selection race for the 2009 World Swimming Championships.


The Maraton Acuatico Ruta del Arrecife was held in Cancun where the top three men were decided by an incredible photo finish:
1. Daniel Delgadillo: 1:27.19 (shown on the left)
2. Iván López: 1:27.24
3. Luis Escobar: 1:27.25
4. Rodrigo Elorza: 1:28.41
5. Arturo Pérez-Verti: 1:30.13

On the women's side, Alejandra Gonzalez (shown above) swam alone for nearly the entire 5K to secure the women's spot on the Mexican National Open Water Team for the World Championships:

1. Alejandra Gonzalez: 1:37.18
2. Patrician Castañeda: 1:39.17
3. Odette Saldivar: 1:40.23
4. Lily Anzueto Moguel: 1:42.49
5. Zaira Cardenas: 1:43.02

The Mexican 10K trials will be on March 28 in Chiapas. The 25K trials will be held concurrently with the 15K FINA Open Water Swimming World Cup on April 18th in the beautiful Sumidero Canyon.

Ivan Lopez Wins Final Pro Race in Mexico

Mexico's own Ivan Lopez won the final race on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit in Chiapas, Mexico on October 18th. The 15K race cuts through the incredibly scenic Sumidero Canyon (Cañon Sumidero) along the Grijalva River.

As is usual in this race, the swim was a close 15K mano-a-mano battle with the top swimmers thrashing through the canyon. The exuberant Lopez finished just ahead of Russia’s Daniil Serebrennikov and Damian Blaum of Argentina.

Lopez said, "I had always been my goal to win a [FINA] Grand Prix. Finally after several years, it was achieved and I am very satisfied and very happy. It was a very strong close race. We swam very fast from the beginning and at the end, I luckily got a good position in the group and managed to reach the goal tenths before anyone else."

In contrast, Britta Kamrau easily won the women’s race by over five minutes in 3:18:25 over Mexico's Alejandra Gonzalez and Esther Nuñez Morera of Spain.

Photos by Dr. Jim Miller.

MEN:
1. Ivan Lopez (MEX), 3:13:52
2. Daniil Serebrennikov (RUS), 3:13:53.40
3. Damian Blaum (ARG), 3:13:53.97

WOMEN:
1. Britta Kamrau-Corestein (GER), 3:18:25
2. Alejandra Gonzalez (MEX), 3:23:18
3. Esther Nuñez Morera (ESP), 3:24:36