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.

Rivalry Renewed In The Bodensee

The upcoming German National Open Water Swimming Championships will be held in Bodensee (Lake Constance in English) where the water is expected to be 18.4°C (65°F).

The 5K, 10K and 25K events will serve as the qualification races for the 2009 World Swimming Championships where the water temperature is expected to be around 26°C (78.8°F).

Bodensee lies in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the base of the alps at 395 meters (1,295 feet) above sea level. Central Europe's third largest lake, it is feed by the Rhine flows into it from the south.

The German Championships will feature another chapter in the long-running rivalry between Britta Kamrau and Angela Maurer.

Angela, who got a close fourth in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Beijing is an early riser - not a surprise as she is a 33-year-old with a four-year-old son. Besides world champion Britta (shown on left), Angela will also face tough competitors in Nadine Pastor and Stefanie Biller in the 10K and 25K races.

Upper photo by Giorgio Scalia shows Thomas Lurz, Britta Kamrau and Wolfgarten at the 2008 European Open Water Swimming Championships. Lower photo of Britta Kamrau is by Lucas Dawson of Getty Images Sport.

America's Hope in the Most Amazing Race

Erica Rose, America's best marathon swimmer over the last ten years, has confirmed her participation in the greatest endurance race of 2009: the Great Channel Swim across the English Channel.




Erica, who transitioned from the world's 5K champion in 1998 to one of the top professional marathon swimmers in the world, will face a stellar field of experienced marathon swimmers from all over the world.


Russians Yuri Kudinov and Natalya Pankina, Bulgarian Petar Stoychev, Cassandra Patten of Great Britain, Stefanie Biller of Germany and Australians Shelley Clark and Brendan Capell have committed to compete in the world's most iconic channel. The final list of competitors will be announced shortly by Nova International.

Erica has traveled the world competing against the world's fastest marathon swimmers - and she will need every kilometer of experience in the Channel:

2007
1st - 25K USA National 25K Championships
1st - 5K Chicago Big Shoulders
2nd - 9K Rosario Professional Marathon Swim in Argentina
2nd - 34K Lac Memphremagog FINA Grand Prix in Canada
3rd - 88K Hernandarias-Parana FINA Grand Prix in Argentina
3rd - 57K Santa Fe-Coronda FINA Grand Prix in Argentina
3rd - 10K Viedma Swimin Argentina
3rd - FINA Grand Prix Series (overall ranking)
4th - 10K USA National Championships
4th - 32K Lac St-Jean FINA Grand Prix in Canada
4th - 36K Capri-Napoli FINA Grand Prix in Italy

2006
1st - 10K Pan American Championships in Ecuador
1st - 5K Pan American Championships in Ecuador
1st - 25K USA National Championships
1st - 32K Lac St-Jean FINA World Cup in Canada
2nd - 10K Seville FINA World Cup in Spain
3rd - 1.5K Tiburon Swim in California, USA
4th - 10K USA National Championships
4th - 25K World Open Water Swimming Championships in Italy
4th - 36K Capri-Napoli FINA World Cup in Italy
10th - 10K World Open Water Swimming Championships in Italy

2005
1st - 25K USA National Championships
2nd - 10K USA National Championships
4th - 37K Around the Island FINA World Cup in New Jersey, USA
4th - 36K Lac Magog FINA World Cup in Canada
6th - 32K Lac St-Jean FINA World Cup in Canada
6th - 88K Hernandarias-Parana FINA World Cup in Argentina
7th - 57K Santa Fe-Coronda FINA World Cup in Argentina
7th - 21K Rosario FINA World Cup in Argentina
8th - 15K Sumidero Canyon FINA World Cup in Mexico
9th - 25K World Swimming Championships in Canada
9th - 10K World Swimming Championships in Canada

2004
1st - USA Nationals, Ft. Myers, Florida, 10K
1st - Pan American Championships, Playa Blanca, Panama, 5K
1st - Pan American Championships, Playa Blanca, Panama, 10K
2nd - USA Nationals, Ft. Myers, Florida, 25K
3rd - Tiburon Mile Swim, Tiburon, California, 1.5K
8th - Lac Magog FINA World Cup, Magog, Canada, 36K
9th - 10K for the USA, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 10K
11th - 25K World Open Water Swimming Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
16th - 10K World Open Water Swimming Championships, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2003
1st - 10K USA National Championships
1st - 2.5K Alcatraz Shark Fest in California, USA
2nd - 25K USA National Championships
9th - 1.5K Tiburon Mile Swim in California, USA
11th - 10K World Swimming Championships in Spain

2002
1st - 10K USA National Championships in California, USA
1st - 10K for the USA in New Jersey, USA
1st - 2K Yangtzee River Crossing in China
3rd - 5K Pirate's Week in Cayman Islands
4th - 5K USA National Championships

2001
1st - 10K USA National Championships
7th - 5K World Swimming Championship in Japan
14th - 10K World Swimming Championships in Japan

2000
3rd - 5K USA National Championships

1999
1st - 5K USA National Championships
1st - 5K Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Australia
1st - 5K Pre-World Championships in Hawaii, USA

1998
1st - 5K USA National Championships
1st - 5K World Swimming Championships in Australia

1997
1st - 5K USA National Championships
1st - 5K Pre-World Championships in Australia

1996
2nd - 5K USA National Championships

We will post an interview with Erica later today. Her excitement is contagious as she gears up her training for the most prestigious, most challenging race of her career.

Upper photo provided by TYR that has sponsored Erica for years.

The Russians Know Nothing Great Is Easy

Two of the world's greatest marathon swimmers, Russians Yuri Kudinov (shown on left) and Natalia Pankina are two more confirmed participants in the Great Channel Swim across the English Channel in August.

Yuri is a powerful swimmer with a proven record of success: a 7:06 crossing of the English Channel in 2007 (shown on left) and 3 gold medals in the 25K world championships in 2001, 2003 and 2007.

In the world of open water swimming, there is perhaps no greater rematch than that of Yuri against Channel record holder Petar Stoychev.

Natalia will present a very formidable competitor to the other professional marathon women in the field: Cassandra Patten of Great Britain, Stefanie Biller of Germany and Shelley Clark of Australia. Natalia not only has a successful English Channel swim under her belts - unlike her competitors - in a 8:10 crossing after fighting against tide just near Cap Gris-Nez, but she also very importantly has experienced an unsuccessful attempt. This dual success and failure will both be helpful to Natalia in overcoming any adversities she might face during the Great Channel Swim.

Additional swimmers - both elite pro swimmers and celebrity relay swimmers - will be announced by Nova International.

Photo of Yuri from Pavel Kuznetsov's website.

Elite Swimmers in the Channel

Nova International announced its elite competitors for the Great Channel Swim in August.

Petar Stoychev, the current English Channel record holder in 6:57 and Bulgaria's Olympic flag-bearer in Beijing, Australian Brendan Capell (shown on left), 2004 world 25K champion and second overall on the 2008 FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit, Cassandra Patten, Britain's 2008 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim bronze medalist, Australian Shelley Clark, a consistently high finisher on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit events and at the World 25K Open Water Championships, Stefanie Biller (shown on left), a 6-time German national champion and second overall in the 2008 FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit. Others will be formally announced later.



Unlike most of English Channel aspirants who simply want to make it across the Channel, these athletes are going to be racing, have raced each other for years and will start together from the same point. All of them are used to swimming in a pack and sprinting for the finish like they all do on the FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup and the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit events. It will be interesting to see their strategies after the start.

Will they swim together in pack? If so, for how long? Will one of them break off and take a different course than the others? Will the women go with the men? Will the escort boat pilots cooperative and share information or strategies with one another - or will they be competitive with one another? If they break off early in the race, they will greatly depend on the experience of their escort boat pilots? How will the race be filmed and reported - by cameras on helicopters and GPS? It will be something to see.

As Shelley once said, "One thing that I love is that open water swimming is very dynamic. No two races are ever going to be the same. Every race, no matter where it is, because of changing conditions and different locations, will be a challenge- whether I’m swimming two kilometers or sixty kilometers."

Well said.

Copyright © 2009 by Open Water Source

Swimming from the U.S. to Canada

One of the great races on the pro FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit with a long, proud history is the Traversee Internationale du Lac Memphremagog.

The race, which used to start in the city of Newport in the state of Vermont (USA) and head 34K north across the U.S.-Canadian border to finish in Magog, Canada, is now one large loop course solely inside Quebec.

The 2008 Traversee Internationale du Lac Memphremagog was the 30th edition of the race. Petar Stoychev handily won, finishing about a minute ahead of Mazen Aziz of Egypt. Stefanie Biller of Germany also won the women’s race in a dominant fashion over Britta Kamrau.

The former cross-border swim has occasionally created unusual situations for the swimmers. Scenes of Vermont reported that in the 2003 race, Mohammed Hassan from Egypt had taken three months to obtain a visa to enter the U.S. for the competition.

But, the Department of Homeland Security told Hassan that his name was on an FBI list. Because of this, Hassan would not be allowed to swim out of the United States and into Canada, but he could leave by any land exit point. The ruling was resolved when the Department of Homeland Security said Hassan could swim across the border as long as he agreed to report back to a U.S. border as soon as the race was over...which is what he did.

Photos from Scenes of Vermont.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Stoychev & Pankina are the Top Marathon Pros

Petar Stoychev is the overall winner of the 2008 FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix for the eighth consecutive year. From 2001 to 2008, Stoychev has been dominant and won this year's Grand Prix series with 126 points. Stoychev won six races out of nine races on the pro cricuit. He was by Brendan Capell(89 points) and Stéphane Gomez (84 points).

Natalia Pankina won the women's circuit with 110 points, winning four of the nine races. She was followed by Stefanie Biller (99 points) and defending series champion Esther Nuñez Morera (85 points).

MEN
1. Petar Stoychev (BUL): 126 pts, US$15,000
2. Brendan Capell (AUS): 89 pts, US$10,000
3. Stéphane Gomez (FRA): 84 pts, US$5,000

WOMEN
1. Natalia Pankina (RUS): 110 pts, US$15,000
2. Stefanie Biller (GER): 99 pts, US$10,000
3. Esther Nuñez Morera (ESP): 85 pts, US$5,000

Photo of Petar Stoychev in Beijing by Pei Qingsheng