FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup Rankings

After 7 closely fought 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 female 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. Poliana Okimoto (Brazil) - 116 points
2. Ana Marcela de Jesus S. Cunha (Brazil) - 100
3. Angela Maurer (Germany) - 88
4. Nadine Pastor (Germany) - 52
5. Karla Sitic (Croatia) - 46
6. Christine Jennings (USA) - 26
6. Mathilde Sorensen (Denmark) - 26
8. Larisa Ilchenko (Russia) - 20
8. Swann Oberson (Switzerland) - 20
10. Nicole Vernon (USA) - 18
10. Stefanie Biller (Germany) - 18
10. Eva Fabian (USA) - 18
13. Heather Maitland (Canada) - 16
13. Kristel Kobrich (Chile) - 16
15. Martina Grimaldi (Italy) - 14
15. Stephanie Hassell (Canada) - 14
15. Natalia Pankina (Russia) - 14
15. Anna Guseva (Russia) - 14
19. Giorgia Consiglio (Italy) - 12
19. Caitlin Nolan (Canada) - 12
19. Maaike Waaijer (Netherlands) - 12
22. Heidi George (USA) - 11
23. Alice Franco (Italy) - 10
23. Nadine Reichert (Germany) - 10
23. Daniela Inacio (Portugal) - 10
26. Linsey Heister (Netherlands) - 8
26. Alejandra Gonzalez (Mexico) - 8
29. Marianna Lymperta (Greece) - 6
29. Elizaveta Gorshkova (Russia) - 6

USA Swimming 5K Open Water Grand Prix

Jay Thomas gave us some first-hand observations of the races at the USA Swimming 5K Open Water Grand Prix meet this weekend in Seattle, Washington.

The course was in Angle Lake which is literally right outside the boundary of Seattle International airport.

The course included four loops in a rectangle course where the top men (Patrick Beasley of Tennessee Aquatics, Luca Spinazzola of Bluefish Swim Club and Vincent Donnelly of Brandon Sports) took turns at putting on mid-race surges. The pace varied widely from all out 300-meter sprints to a virtual standstill while the men sorted out who would lead the pack. The top 5 men stayed in a single pack sharing attacks and counter-attacks.

For a period, the men swam 5-wide, but they all know the value of entertainment: when the pack passed closely alongside a dock where coaches and spectators were cheering them on during each loop, they responded with high-paced swimming just meters off the pier. In the final 500 meters, Vincent put on a last spurt to win by two seconds over Julian Bonse of Irvine Novaquatics.

On the women's side, 2009 world championship 10K and 25K'er Eva Fabian, just back from Rome, won with Christine Jennings second in what was basically a two-person competition for first.

Eva (shown above) and Christine separated themselves from the pack after the first loop and continued to lengthen the distance as the race progressed.

Eva is shown with a homemade - and useful - countermeasure (i.e., tape) for preventing her goggles from being knocked off her head.

The top 3 finishers were as follows:

Vincent Donnelly, 1:00:02
Julian Bonse, 1:00:04
Tyler Pennington, 1:00:08

Eva Fabian, 59:47
Christine Jennings, 59:52
Lindsay Vrooman, 1:01:35

American Women Go 1-2 In Lac St-Jean 10K

Christine Jennings (2:09:58.81) and Nicole Vernon (2:14:19.02) captured gold and silver at the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean. Heather Maitland of Canada was third in 2:14:35.93 in the third leg of the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit of 2009.

In the men's race, Alexander Studzinski of Germany was first (1:57:25.16), David Browne of Australia was second (1:57:42.74) and Charles Cullom of the USA was third (1:58:36.46). Swimmers from France, Argentina, Canada, Macedonia and Slovenia also participated in the 21˚C (70˚F) waters of Lac St-Jean iunder sunny skies in Quebec, Canada.

A day later, the 17th annual Marathon de la relève Rio Tinto Alcan was held. Antoine David of Charlemagne, Canada won the 10K race in 2:29:21.73 with Alexandre Day of Sherbrooke second in 2:38:03.26 and Béatrice Pineau of Boischatel third in 2:38:51.28.

The 55th annual 32K Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean, a FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix event, will be held on Saturday.

Next year, the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean will be the venue for the 2010 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships.

Great Canadian and American National 10K Championship Race in Florida

Swimming World Magazine covered the strategic USA Swimming National 10K Open Water Swimming Championship in Ft. Myers this warm Sunday morning in Florida.

As America's most experienced international referee Sid Cassidy summarized the competitive race for the Swimming World Magazine, "This was unlike any other race on American soil. It was much more like an international race. It was strategic, the swimmers were making moves and being physical. It was an incredibly effective race, especially for our young [swimmers]."

Read the Swimming World Magazine article here. The results are as follows:

Top 10 Men's Results
1. Philippe Debreuil (Team Canada/Sherwood, Canada), 1:51:38.74
2. Fran Crippen (Germantown Academy Aquatics), 1:52:41.37
3. Andrew Gemmell (Delaware Swim Team), 1:52:43.14
4. Sean Ryan (Scenic City Aquatic Club), 1:52:45.95
5. Alex Meyer (Unattached), 1:52:46.74
6. Deni Cullom (Mission Viejo Nadadores), 1:52:49.42
7. Joe Kinderwater (WSY Swimming), 1:53:06.83
8. Mark Warkentin (Santa Barbara Aquatics Club), 1:53:23.78
9. Connor Signorin (Peddie Aquatic Association), 1:53:32.32
10. Simon Tobin (UL, Canada), 1:53:36.67

Top 10 Women's Results
1. Emily Brunemann (Club Wolverine), 1:58:11.38
2. Eva Fabian (Greenwood Memorial Swim Club), 1:58:13.24
3. Emily Hanson (Club Wolverine), 1:58:27.57
4. Chloe Sutton (Mission Viejo Nadadores), 1:58:54.00
5. Christine Jennings (Minnesota Aquatics), 1:58:54.30
6. Nicole Vernon (Delaware Swim Team), 2:01:43.29
7. Heidi George (Los Altos & Mountain View), 2:01:48.32
8. Kirsten Groome (First Colony Swim Team), 2:02:11.99
9. Claire Thompson (West Florida Lightning Aquatic), 2:03:42.50
10. Zsofia Balazs (Team Canada, Canada), 2:03:44.37

Photo shows Sid Cassidy giving a yellow flag to a swimmer in the 10K race in Ft. Myers.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association

We're Number 36!!!

ESPN, the Disney-owned American cable TV network that touts itself as the ‘worldwide leader in sports’, asked a 8-person panel of sports experts to determine the “toughest” sport. The panel evaluated 60 sports in 10 different categories: endurance, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand-eye coordination and analytic aptitude.

The 8 experts judged each sport in the 10 categories on a scale of 1-to-10. The responses were compiled to give each sport a degree-of-difficulty on a 1-to-100 scale.

The results are…distance swimming was ranked 36th out of 60 sports. The rankings are listed below with more details at ESPN.

1. Boxing
2. Ice Hockey
3. American Football
4. Basketball
5. Wrestling
6. Martial Arts
7. Tennis
8. Gymnastics
9. Baseball/Softball
10. Soccer
11. Alpine Skiing
12. Water Polo
13. Rugby
14. Lacrosse
15. Steer Wresting (Rodeo)
16. Pole Vault (Track and Field)
17. Field Hockey
18. Speed Skating
19. Figure Skating
20. Cycling (Distance)
21. Volleyball
22. Racquetball/Squash
23. Surfing
24. Fencing
25. Freestyle Skiing
26. Team Handball
27. Cycling (Sprints)
28. Bobsledding/Luge
29. Ski Jumping
30. Badminton
31. Nordic Skiing
32. Auto Racing
33. High Jump (Track and Field)
34. Long & Triple Jumps (Track and Field)
35. Diving
36. Distance Swimming (all strokes)
37. Skateboarding
38. Sprints (Track and Field)
39. Rowing
40. Calf Roping (Rodeo)
41. Distance Running (Track and Field)
42. Bull/Bareback/Bronc Riding (Rodeo)
43. Middle-distance Running (Track and Field)
44. Weight-lifting
45. Sprint Swimming (all strokes)
46. Water Skiing
47. Table Tennis
48. Weight Events (Track and Field)
49. Canoe/Kayak
50. Horse Racing
51. Golf
52. Cheerleading
53. Roller Skating
54. Equestrian
55. Archery
56. Curling
57. Bowling
58. Shooting
59. Billiards
60. Fishing

The 8 sports experts are listed here and include sports scientists, academicians, kinesiologists, athletes, and sports journalists (note: no one has an aquatic background).

Swimming’s highest ranking was in endurance where it scored a 9.25 (behind distance cycling and distance running) and its lowest ranking was hand-eye coordination (where it scored the same as speed skating, rowing, roller skating and equestrian).

Since open water swimming is occasionally described as wrestling (#5 above) in the water, and requires careful hand-eye coordination between swimmer and coach at the feeding stations, could open water swimming been ranked a bit higher?

Photo of Christine Jennings in the 5K race by Javier Blazquez at the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Sevilla, Spain.

Three Strikes and You're Out

As reported by Michael Church of PA Sport in Beijing, David Davies and Cassandra Patten, two leading British marathon swimming medal contenders gave a clear explanation of what they expect in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.

"You are all swimming in a pack and you don't have a lane to yourself so it is a very physical sport and you do swim on top of each other and get the odd fist in the face and that sort of thing," said Davies.

"But I do really enjoy it. It's a very demanding event, a very hard, endurance-based event and it deserves to be in the Olympic programme because the athletes who do it are very hard working and endurance-based athletes. So it's good it's in the programme this time and I've got the chance to not only do the pool event but the open water event as well."

It's the hardest thing I've ever done. Adapting to the tactics of it and the physicality of it and learning to swim in a straight line without having a blue line at the bottom of the river is obviously the biggest challenge.

I've got scope for improvement but there's no pressure on me because I'm a novice at this and it's just a good thing for me to do after the pool swimming has finished."

Patten also explained the physicality of the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.

"You've got 20-30 girls in close proximity and normally I'll give them 'three strikes'. I'll let the first two go but if I get hit a third time I might give them one back. I can look after myself."

Photo by Javier Blazquez of Christine Jennings in the 5K race at the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association