Swim East - You Can't Miss It

Flat water, good weather...and a huge turn buoy. You can't miss it, the Great East Swim in Alton Water in England. 17-year-old Tom Allen, quickly developing into one of Great Britain's next great open water swimmers and former world champion Britta Kamrau of Germany won the last of four races in the British Gas great series.

Tom outswam the field of 1,500 competitors from all over Great Britain and Europe. On the men's elite field, 7 countries were represented in the top 10 while on the women's side, 5 countries were represented in the top 10.

Tom won with plenty to spare in 16:24 over Tom Vangeneugden of Belgium in 16:38 and Danill Serebrennikov of Russia in 16:41. Britta beat the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold, silver and bronze medalists, swimming in 18:08 over gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko in 18:09 and 10K world champion Keri-Anne Payne in 18:11.

Julian Crabtree, who had previously started and finished with every single heat of every 1-mile swim in the 4-part series, successfully completed his venture - a total distance of 44 miles where he was pressured to make a certain each mile.

41-year-old Julian said, "It’s been tough, but I’m proud of what I have achieved and met some great people over recent weeks. It’s brilliant to see so many people involved in taking up open water swimming and maybe this could become the next big mass participation sport in the U.K."

It will be if race director Colin Hill, one of this year's World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year nominees, continues to organize and promote the sport as he has this year.

Elite Top 10 Results:

1. Britta Kamrau (GER) 18:08.13
2. Larisa Ilchenko (RUS) 18:09.52
3. Keri-Anne Payne (GBR) 18:11.36
4. Katy Whitfield (GBR) 18:18.14
5. Cassie Patten (GBR) 18:22.76
6. Silvie Rybarova (CZE) 18:34.10
7. Steffi Biller (GER) 18:53.09
8. Camilla Frediani (ITA) 18:55.52
9. Alice McCall (GBR) 18:56.49
10. Abbie Thorrington (GBR) 18:56.87

1. Tom Allen (GBR) 16:24.72
2. Tom Vangeneugden (BEL) 16:38.52
3. Daniil Serebrennikov (RUS) 16:41.84
4. Alexander Studzinski (GER) 16:43.67
5. Dave Carry (GBR) 17:12.37
6. Ross Davenport (GBR) 17:13.48
7. Jan Posmourny (CZE) 17:15.23
8. Scott Hathaway (GBR) 17:16.21
9. Mario Bonanca (POR) 17:18.48
10. Chris Bryan (IRE) 17.19.09

Winning In Windermere

Daniil Serebrennikov and Nadine Pastor of German upset their more famous elite competitors in the 1-mile British Gas Great North Swim yesterday under sunny skies and in 17°C water in Lake Windermere this weekend. Olympian and race commentator Steve Parry reports, "The elite races demonstrated the importance of tactics for both the men’s and women’s events."

"In the women’s race, 10K world champion Keri-Anne Payne took an early lead until the 1.200K mark while followed by a chasing pack with Germany’s Steffi Biller and Nadine Pastor and the Russian Olympic gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko. At this point, the physicality of the sport really came into the full view with leg and elbow kicks coming into quick exchange."

"Nadine broke free of the chasing pack and used the calm water to her full advantage, while Katy chose to take a different route than the group as she gained valuable yards. Nadine was the clear winner, but you could have thrown a coin over second, third and fourth. Great Britain's Katy Whitfield finished second with the Larisa in third and Keri-Anne in fourth."

The first half of men’s race was led by long-distance specialist Alexander Studzinski of Germany who built up a ten-meter gap between him and the chase pack.

Steve summarizes, "It looked like an impossibility that Alexander was ever going to lose, but Daniil Serebrennikov of Russia swam the perfect race and timed his move flawlessly, pushing ahead for just one [last] metre of the race to give Daniil his second victory in the British Gas Great Swim four-part series. Much to the delight of the home crowd, British junior swimmer Tom Allen finished hin third."

But, more importantly, 6,000 other swimmers entered the event with the world-class swimmers in only the second year of the event.

"The Great Swim brand has created a series of events for people to get excited about," said Steve. "My personal hope is that these mass participation open water swimming events will one day be just as popular and successful as their Great Run counterparts."

Elite Women’s Results:
1. Nadine Pastor (GER) 18.14
2. Katy Whitfield (GBR) 18.15
3. Larisa Ilchenko (RUS) 18.16

Elite Men’s Results:
1. Daniil Serebrennikov (RUS) 16.23
2. Alexander Studzinski (GER) 16.23
3. Tom Allen (GBR) 16.26

The event will be televised in Great Britain in the fall on Channel 4.

Give Her An Inch And She Takes A Mile

Britta Kamrau took a slight lead over three Olympic 10K medalists and won the 1-mile Great Scottish Swim in 18:56 seconds. Larisa Ilchenko was second in 18:58 and Keri-Anne Payne was third in 19:01.

Daniil Serebrennikov of Russia, Jan Wolfgarten of Germany and David Carry of Scotland finished 1-2-3 on the men's side.

Britta's victory over a tough field in Scotland should give her a lot of confidence heading into the RCP Tiburon Mile in San Francisco to be held on September 13th.

Rowdy Gaines and John Naber give a tune-up to the 2008 RCP Tiburon Mile, site of Britta's US$10,000 winner-take-all victory:

Russian Long-Distance Champions

At the Russian National Open Water Swimming Championships, Anna Uvarova and Natalia Pankina, two stalwarts on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit, placed 1-2 in the 16K race and will represent Russia at the upcoming 2009 World Swimming Championships in the 25K race.

On the men's side, Daniil Serebrennikov, another stalwart on the FINA pro circuits, and former world 10K champion Vladimir Dyatchin (shown above) had an incredible 16K race where they tied for first in an identical time of 3 hours 13 minutes 57.5 seconds.

Russian All-Stars Vying For Rome

The Russian Swimming Federation started its national open water swimming championships today in the Black Sea in Anapa. The women's 5K race is today, the men's 5K on June 26th, the women's and men's 10K on June 28th, the women's 16K on June 30th and the men's 16K on July 1st for the right to respresent Russia at the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome.

Photo by Giorgio Scalia of Russian swimmers Selverstova, Daniil Serebrennikov and Evgeny Drattsev at the 2008 European Open Water Swimming Championships.

Open Water Swimming Risk

In the race course of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit in Chiapas, Mexico, there was a crocodile sighting near the incredibly scenic Sumidero Canyon (Cañon Sumidero).




The crocodile was sighted by Yuko Matsuzaki of Japan and a few other swimmers as Mexico's Ivan Lopez was having an incredibly competitive battle with Russia's Russia’s Daniil Serebrennikov and Argentina's Damian Blaum.

Photos provided by Matsuzaki.

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

Pro Season Climax in Cancun

The FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit climaxed in Cancun, Mexico today.

FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee chairman Sid Cassidy was in Cancun and gives a first-person account here for Swimming World Magazine.

One main story line included the loss by RCP Tiburon Mile winner Trent Grimsey who made a key navigational mistake towards the end, opening up an opportunity for Thomas Lurz to take a one-second victory over Mexico’s Ivan Lopez who was, in turn, one second ahead of Russia’s Daniil Serebrennikov.

The second main story line was an old story where Olympic 10K gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko overtook Angela Maurerby a second and Britta Kamrau by two seconds.

Women's Results
1. Larisa Ilchenko (RUS), 2:02:04.42
2. Angela Mauer (GER), 2:02:05.35
3. Britta Kamrau (GER), 2:02:06.47
4. Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), 2:02:08.76
5. Imelda Martinez (MEX), 2:02:12.06
6. Alice Franco (ITA), 2:02:16.13
7. Esther Nunez (ESP), 2:02:29.63
8. Natalya Pankina (RUS), 2:04:20.67
9. Alejandra Gonzalez (MEX) , 2:04:21.18
10.Shelley Clark (AUS), 2:06:45.77
11.Lily Anzueto (MEX), 2:08:38.93
12.Odette Saldivar (MEX), 2:09:09.50
13.Melsie Munoz (GUA), 2:19:01.59

Men's Results
1. Thomas Lurz (GER), 1:52.23.31
2. Ivan Lopez (MEX), 1:52:24.65
3. Daniil Serebrennikov (RUS), 1:52:27.08
4. Valerio Cleri (ITA), 1:52:31.05
5. Yuri Kudinov (RUS), 1:52:32.43
6. Daniel Delgadillo (MEX), 1:52:33.84
7. Mazen Aziz (EGY), 1:52:35.02
8. Allan Carmo (BRA), 1:52:35.37
9. Damian Blaum (ARG), 1:52:37.65
10.Brendan Capell (AUS), 1:52:39.10
11.Trent Grimsey (AUS), 1:54:44.24
12.Rodrigo Elorza (MEX), 1:55:34.13
13.Pablo Villalvazo (MEX), 1:58:49.85
14.Adel Ragab (EGY), 1:58:50.20
15.Manuel Chiu (MEX), 2:00:15.58
16.Juan Prem (GUA), 2:08:30.83
17.Cecilio Chup (GUA), 2:11:52.15
DQ Luis Escobar (MEX)

Hard to Miss That Turn Buoy

At the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup in Singapore, the race organizers made sure the turn buoys were visible to the swimmers. Yuri Kudinov, 3-time world 25K champion and 2nd fastest English Channel swimmer of all time, is shown leading the pack as he rounds one of the turn buoys.

The FINA World Cup swim was eventually won by Kudinov's teammate, Daniil Serebrennikov, and Valerio Cleri who tied in a time of 2:09.20.25.

Photo provided by Jane Ng of the Singapore Swimming Association.

First Couple of Open Water Swimming

Swimming World Magazine ran an interesting article based on an interview with Larisa Ilchenko conducted by Shelley Taylor-Smith.

The first couple of the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup performed very well in the Singapore leg on October 4th.

Larisa Ilchenko won the women's race while her training partner and boyfriend Daniil Serebrennikov tied with Valerio Cleri of Italy in the men's race with an exact time of 2:09.20.25.

Cleri, who got fourth in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, has five FINA World Cup victories and one bronze in the 2008 pro 10K circuit. He looks to lock up the 2008 overall title after he participates in the season-ending Cancun race. The overall World Cup circuit winners, both male and female, receive an additional US$15,000.

In addition to her Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold medal, Ilchenko has three golds and a silver during the 2008 circuit. She has been training with her boyfriend of three years, Serebrennikov, who has one gold and two silvers during the 2008 season.

In a typically exciting finish, Serebrennikov and Cleri finished a stroke ahead of Egypt's Mazen Mohamed Aziz. Aziz took bronze only one second behind in 2:09.21.08. Less than a second behind Aziz was fourth place Yury Kudinov of Russia with a time of 2:09.21.99.

Aziz has earned a medal of every color during the 2008 World Cup season, making up for his just missing qualification in the Beijing Olympic 10K.

As was expected, Ilchenko outsprinted Brazil's Ana Marcela Cunha and Angela Maurer who took the silver and bronze medals respectively. In addition to her close fourth-place finish at the Olympics, Maurer has one gold, one silver and three bronze medals during the 2008 FINA World Cup season and is leading the current rankings going into the final race in Cancun.

The results are as follows:

MEN
1. Daniil Serebrennikov in 2:09.20.251.
1. Valerio Cleri in 2:09.20.25
3. Mazen Mohamed Aziz in 2:09.21.08

WOMEN
1. Larisa Ilchenko in 2:16.22.00
2. Ana Marcela Cunha in 2:16.25.09
3. Angela Maurer in 2:16.27.32

Upper photo shows Ilchenko (middle) accepting her winner's check from FINA representative Shelley Taylor-Smith (to her right) at the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup in Hong Kong on September 28th. Second-place Kristel Kobrich of Chile and third-place Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil (far left) are also shown in the photo by Shelley Taylor-Smith.

Lower photo by Shelley Taylor-Smith shows Ilchenko at a pre-race clinic in Singapore for the local students.