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

Thomas Lurz Circles Another Victory In Copenhagen

Thomas Lurz continued his winning streak in the Copenhagen 10K pro swim with a closely fought battle against Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria and Sergai Bolshakov of Russia; the respective times were 1:57:40 vs. 1:57.43 vs. 1:57.44. Poliana Okimoto beat Brazilian teammate Ana Marcela Cunha in a time of 2:05.17 to 2:05.29 with Angela Maurer of Germany third in 2:05.30. The swimmers plan to continue their battles next week in New York City.

Salford Online posted a number of great interviews with some of the world's best open water swimmers:

Thomas Lurz said, "I won the race, and I am very happy with the result. 10K race is always very hard, and the water really cold. So I am very glad to win the race, and was perfect for me. My special tactic was until 8K to be the pack and try to save power and draft behind the people. And after the last lap, I wanted to leave the group and then I did this, and it worked very good for me."

"[Swimming] around [Copenhagen] like this is the perfect idea. I think it the future of open water swimming, because all spectators can look the whole race, and walk with it and it is a nice idea. And I think in the future there should be more races like this."

"I was really focused on the race, so during the race I couldn't see the nice houses and buildings, but the day before in training. I watched the city and of course it really nice and perhaps I will come and visit for holiday."

English Channel record holder Petar Stoychev said, "I just wanted to be in the back of the group and try to save some energy for the end. I got a little bit hard time with the jellyfishes. I was feeling comfortable all the time in race, and in the end I was sure that I would be in the top 3. So I did it, and I am really happy with the result."

"First of all I got a chance to swim in the downtown of the city, and in very clean water, which was a really surprise for me. Secondly you have people all around, and it is very easy for the spectators to observe the race and to see swimmers during the 10K race."

World champion Angela Maurer said, "I was just a little bit afraid of the cold water. I had no special tactic, just to swim and see how I felt for the last 400 meters, but today I was little bit tired in the end, so I lost my second position and got the third position. But it was okay for me."

Okimoto And Lurz Win Lake Annecy Pro Swim

Lake Annecy, known as the cleanest lake in Europe, was the French site for a rare mid-week FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup race.

While the race date was unusual, the winners were familiar. Thomas Lurz of Germany continued his winning streak, pulling away from second-place Sergai Bolshakov of Russia with a comfortable 4-second victory.

On the women's side, another familiar face to the podium, Poliana Okimoto sprinted to a similar 4-second victory over Brazilian teammate Ana Marcela Cunha.

Under beautiful weather in 23.7°C water in a popular tourist destination, a large number of swimmers participated (40 women and 65 men from 20 countries) in a fast-paced race that also served as the French national 10K championships - a credit to the host French Swimming Association and its Open Water Swimming director Jean-Paul Narce.

The top 20 women and men's results are as follows:

1. Poliana Okimoto (BRA), 1:58:58.69
2. Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), 1:59:02.69
3. Angela Maurer (GER), 1:59:03.94
4. Karla Sitic (CRO), 1:59:06.97
5. Nadine Pastor (GER), 1:59:07.81
6. Kristel Kobrich (CHI), 1:59:09.47
7. Swann Oberson (SUI), 1:59:28.00
8. Maaike Waaijer (NED), 1:59:28.38
9. Heidi George (USA), 1:59:30.38
10. Célia Barrot (FRA), 2:00:24.22
11. Natalia Pankina (RUS), 2:02:23.44
12. Nika Kozamernik (SLO), 2:02:39.80
13. Gudnitz Trine (DEN), 2:04:14.44
14. Katy Whitfield (GBR), 2:04:52.42
15. Stefanie Biller (GER), 2:05:34.24
16. Daniela Pinto (POR), 2:08:22.10
17. Coralie Plouviez (FRA), 2:08:24.30
18. Johanne Laizeau (FRA), 2:16:30.46
19. Adeline Gagnadoux (FRA), 2:16:30.73
20. Maureen Laurent (FRA), 2:16:35.39

1. Thomas Lurz (GER), 1:52:08.87
2. Sergai Bolshakov (RUS), 1:52:12.37
3. Allan Do Carmo (BRA), 1:52:20.70
4. Brian Ryckeman (BEL), 1:52:21.28
5. Jan Wolfgarten (GER), 1:52:21.87
6. Petar Stoychev (BUL), 1:52:22.53
7. Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS), 1:52:23.30
8. Loïc Branda (FRA), 1:52:24.36
9. Sebastien Fraysse (FRA), 1:52:26.10
10. Tom Vangeneugden (BEL), 1:52:26.47
11. GOMEZ Stéphane Gomez (FRA), 1:52:26.88
12. REICHERT Christian Reichert (GER), 1:52:27.24
13. AZIZ Mazen Aziz (EGY), 1:52:27.62
14. DEN BOER Robin Den Boer (NED), 1:52:28.14
15. HEDEL Joanes Hedel (FRA), 1:52:28.59
16. FOGG Daniel Fogg (GBR), 1:52:28.98
17. VENTURI Bertrand Venturi (FRA), 1:52:39.11
18. FRAYSSE Vincent Fraysse (FRA), 1:54:55.17
19. BOYKOV Vasily Boykov (RUS), 1:54:57.91
20. RAGAB Adel Ragab (EGY), 1:56:13.28

Photo of Poliana Okimoto at the 2009 World Swimming Championships by Michael Sohn.