Photos from the Sumidero Canyon 15K

We previously reported on the pro Sumidero Canyon 15K; Omar Díaz González provided us with a variety of great shots from the race. The photo on left shows the men lining in front of their escort boats: Peter Stoychev, Diego Nogueira, Iván López, Michael Dimitrev, Saleh Mohammad, Damián Blaum, Gabriel Villagoys, Arseniy Larentyev, Manuel Chiu and Rodolfo Valenti.

The next photos show the 15K course down the scenic canyon.



Both the men and women went at each other for hours, constantly jockeying for position...until the very end...


...when Petar Stoychev and Britta Kamrau emerged with down-to-the-wire victories.

When it comes to marathon swimming, these two 2009 inductees in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame live up to their well-deserving reputations.

Mexican Trials for the World Championships

Omar Díaz González informed us of the Mexican Swimming Federation's (Federacion Mexicana de Natacion) 3-part plan to select the top Mexican open water swimmers who will compete at the World Swimming Championships in Rome this coming July.


The Mexican 5K trials for the World Swimming Championships will be held this weekend in the beautiful sea off of Cancun. The world championship trials for the 10K will be on March 28 in Chiapas. The 25K trials will be held concurrently with the 15K FINA Open Water Swimming World Cup on April 18th in the beautiful Sumidero Canyon.

From tropical seas to scenic rivers, Mexico is challenging its athletes in a variety of open water settings in preparation for Rome.

Photo of Sumidero Canyon by Dr. Jim Miller.

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

Mexican Open Water Natural Beauty

The last race on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit takes place in Chiapas, Mexico on October 18th. This extraordinary 15K race cuts through the incredibly scenic Sumidero Canyon (Cañon Sumidero) along the Grijalva River.



The race ends at the Chicoasen hydroelectric dam. The swimmers are treated to a spectacular journey along the serene river with the canyon walls towering above them inside a Ecological Park. Despite the serenity of the park, the racing between the pro swimmers has traditionally been competitive and exciting. As the last race on the annual FINA circuit, FINA Grand Prix points and rankings are up for grabs, creating a great competition.




The week before the Sumidero 15K FINA Grand Prix, the last FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup is held in Cancun, Mexico on October 11th. Race Director Omar Diaz organizes both races on behalf of the Federacion Mexicana de Natacion and FINA. The host hotel is the beautiful Oasis Palm Beach hotel.

After a long professional marathon swim season that began in Brazil, traversed to Argentina, Italy, Dubai, Portugal, Serbia, Macedonia, Canada, Seville, Hong Kong and Singapore, with a brief Olympic stop in Beijing, the circuit ends with two beautiful swims in Mexico.

Photos by Dr. Jim Miller.