Cross-Over And Surge To Victory In Ria De Navia

Ivan Brion of Spain did a classic cross-over move and put on a last-second surge to just barely touch out Germany's Christian Reichert at the 2009 Descenso Internacional a Nado de la Ria de Navia, one of the world's top 100 open water swims.

The 5K race men's and the very close women's 3K race, won by Margarita Dominguez over fellow Spaniard and Olympic 10K swimmer Yurema Requena, can be enjoyed here on TPE:



Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup Rankings

After 7 very exciting FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup events conducted this year in Santos (Brazil), Setubal (Portugal), Lac St-Jean (Canada), Varna (Bulgaria), Lake Annecy (France), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Manhattan (USA), the top 30 professional marathon male swimmers to date are listed below. 5 more races in Chun An, Shantou and Hong Kong (China), and Dubai and Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) will close out the 2009 season.

1. Thomas Lurz (Germany) - 100 points
2. Allan do Carmo (Brazil) - 88
3. Petar Stoychev (Bulgaria) - 58
4. Vladimir Dyatchin (Russia) - 44
5. Sergai Bolshakov (Russia)- 34
6. Christian Reichert (Germany) - 32
7. Brian Ryckeman (Belgium) - 28
8. Jan Wolfgarten (Germany) - 24
9. Daniel Fogg (Great Britain) - 22
10. Simone Ercoli (Italy) - 20
10. Alexander Studzinski (Germany) - 20
12. Luca Ferretti (Italy) - 18
12. David Browne (Australia) - 18
12. Charles Cullom (USA) - 18
15. Valerio Cleri (Italy) - 16
15. Joanes Hedel (France) - 16
15. Stephane Gomez (France) - 16
15. Fran Crippen (USA) - 16
19. Spyridon Gianniotis (Greece) - 14
19. Luis Escobar (Mexico) - 14
19. Chad Ho (South Africa) - 14
22. Mazen Aziz (Egypt) - 12
22. Sergiy Fesenko (Azerbaijan) - 12
24. Nicola Bolzonello (Italy) - 10
24. Arseniy Lavrentyev (Portugal) - 10
24. Gabriel Villagoiz (Argentina) - 10
24. Daniel Delgadillo (Mexico) - 10
24. Barton Wells (USA) - 10
30. Loic Branda (France) - 9

German Team To Rome - Shout It Out

The German Swimming Federation announced its 2009 World Swimming Championship team with Stephanie Biller (shown on left) and Angela Maurer swimming the 10K and 25K, Nadine Pastor and Britta Kamrau swimming the 5K, Thomas Lurz and Jan Wolfgarten in the 5K, and Thomas and Christian Reichert in the 10K.

Stephanie's coach, Alan Bircher, said: "The 25km is the one we started the season looking for a medal at the worlds in, so it’s great news she has been picked. There are a lot of very good girls, so you can’t guarantee anything, but I think she’s in with a great shout."

German Veterans Qualify For The World Championships

Thomas Lurz, the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim bronze medalist, and Angela Maurer, who placed a close fourth in the Olympic 10K in Beijing, both won the German National Open Water Swimming Championships 10K race to qualify for the 2009 World Swimming Championships.

Thomas won in 1:57:37.2 over Christian Reichert's 1:57:41.1. Angela won in 2:01:31.4 over Stefanie Biller in 2:01:36.2 All four swimmers will represent Germany in the 10K race in Rome.

A pre-race favorite Britta Kamrau did not compete as she will focus on the 5K and 25K.

Photo of Angela Maurer by DPA.

12 Olympians at the Midmar Mile = Amazing Photo Finish

Both the men's and women's headliner races in the world's biggest open water swim, the 36th Halfway Telkom Midmar Mile came down to the finish as 12 Olympians and 17,000+ swimmers took to open water swimming's most famous dam.




Olympic 10K Marathon Swim silver medalist Keri-Anne Payne won her fourth consecutive Midmar Mile in 18:48, 3 seconds over Nadine Pastor from Germany who swam her fourth race in four days (including a 10K on Thursday and 5K on Friday).

Hungarian Evelyn Verralzto was third, South African Melissa Corfe fourth, Britain's Cassandra Patten fifth, Britain’s Alice McCall sixth, South African Bianca Meyer seventh and Britian's Charlotte Wooliscroft. Nadine Pastor, a first-time Midmar Mile competitor, said after the race, "Honestly, I've never seen anything like it: the number of swimmers, the crowds, the organisation, and the beautiful setting."

The men's race was called only after race officials confirmed with race footage because the top finishers were so close. South African Riaan Schoeman forged ahead over the first 400 meters to forfeit the lead to Chad Ho and Hungarian David Verraszto for the next 800 meters. Defending champion Shaun Dias swam over the wrong course and was not a factor this year.

Germany’s Christian Reichert and Belgium’s Brian Ryckeman tried to surge at the end, but Schoeman and Verraszto sprinted ahead of the stellar field and both stood up to run over the finish line together. Schoeman and Verraszto could not have been closer together if they tried.

After checking and re-checking the videos and film for 45 minutes, the race officials awarded Schoeman the victory over Verraszto in 17:34 with Ho in third a second later, Reichert 2 seconds later and Ryckeman 5 seconds later. Defending champion Shaun Dias finished in seventh spot.

Schoeman summed up the race, "A few of us broke away and it turned out to be a sprint finish, it was really good."

Sam Greetham, a 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year nominee, once described the Midmar Mile in majestic terms, "Nothing I have seen comes anywhere near the Midmar Mile. Both in terms of the number of participants, tip-top organization, security and safety aspects, and the interaction between the participants and the public."

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Olympians Headline Midmar Mile 10K

Olympic 10K Marathon Swim athletes took part in the world's biggest open water swim, the Midmar Mile in South Africa including a full contingent of British stars headlined by Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten, and defending champion Chad Ho of South Africa and Hungarian Csaba Gercsak.

In the 10K Midmar Mile Long-Distance race, a prelude to the Halfway Telkom Midmar Mile, Christian Reichert of Germany won in 2:01:18, beating Belgium's Brian Ryckeman (shown above) by 18 seconds. Ryckeman was 7th in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, but could not catch the blazing Reichert under difficult conditions.

Nadine Pastor of Germany, who recently place third in the first leg of the 2009 FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup in Brazil, kept up with the leading men for the first 5K and comfortably won the women’s race comfortably.

Midmar Mile 10K Top 10 Results
1. Christiaan Reichert (Germany) 2:01:18.1
2. Brian Ryckeman (Belgium) 2:01:36.1
3. Tyrone Venter (South Africa) 2:04:49.2
4. Nadine Pastor (Germany) 2:05:35.1
5. Charlotte Woolenscroft (Great Britain) 2:07:11.6
6. Alice McCall (Great Britain) 2:16:28.7
7. Belinda Van der Merwe (Great Britain) 2:51:36.1
8. Nadia Bacchini (South Africa) 2:57:15.2
9. Ingrid Kruger (South Africa) 2:57:15.2
10. Devon Thomson (South Africa) 3:08:09.4

Copyright © 2009 by Open Water Source