Never a sport for the faint-hearted, the FINA Marathon Swim World Series opener in Setubal, Portugal delivered stirring performances. Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri and Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha led the way with gold medal performances in the men’s and women’s 10km individual competitions.
With a midday sun beating down, high
winds and strong currents made the gruelling 10km swim a challenge of mental
fortitude as well as a physical one. Adaptability – matched with the maxim of
know thyself – played a leading role in the day’s two competitions.
Men’s Race: Italy and Hungary pace
the field
Paltrinieri finished in 1:53:45 just
ahead of countrymate Domenico Acerenza's 1:53:47. Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky,
last year’s World Series overall men’s champion, completed the podium in
1:53:52.
The Italian men put on the day's
dominant team performance by placing five within the top six.
“I’m really happy to have won the
gold medal. Today the conditions were really rough; it was really at the
extreme for the open water,” Paltrinieri said. “There was current, there were
waves. I could say it was the worst conditions, but actually, it’s fun because
you never know what’s to come.”
Count Rasovszky among those who were
stoked on the day's conditions.
"This is pure racing, it's way
better than swimming in a pool, all alone in your own lane and make the pace by
yourself," the 24-year-old from the Budapest neighbourhood of Veszprem
said. "You have to race and react with what the others are doing. Of
course, you have to catch up in the current, find your place in the waves and
your place in the pack."
Acerenza said he's "so
happy" with his silver medal finish, but that he had ideas on winning --
and on the upcoming FINA World Championships.
"This has been a difficult
training period for me because in one month we'll be at the world
championships. I train for this."
Women’s Race: Confidence, cunning and
Cunha lead to Brazilian victory
Strategy and racing to one’s
strengths became everything in the women’s competition with a nine-swimmer
leading group all tightly packed heading into and around the final buoy turn
with a 150-metre final push to the finish line.
Cunha, the winningest marathon
swimmer of all time, positioned herself just as she wanted to: from the front.
With the ocean current pushing from
behind, Cunha’s competitors couldn’t catch her. The co-defending FINA Marathon
Swim World Series overall series champion has herself in pole position for
earning herself an eighth Best Female Open Water Swimmer award crown.
“It was a tough race, a difficult and
unforgiving race," Cunha said. “The one area I can control the most is
turning buoys. I knew if I got to the last buoy in front, the current would be
pushing in my favour.”
With a powerful turn of pace, the
other competitors followed behind in a single-file formation. Game, set and
match for Ana Marcela.
Dutch 2016 Olympic open water
champion Sharon Van Rouwendaal finished in the silver medal position. Having
swum at or near the front throughout the race, the savvy 28-year-old racer
sounded upbeat about starting the international marathon swim season on the
podium.
“This is a very good start. Normally
I don’t make so many medals at the start of the world cups because I’m training
so much,” Van Rouwendaal said. “I was leading most of the race, just trying to
make it a strong race to make this also as a part of hard training for worlds.
I was testing some stuff. I think it played out well.”
Leonie Beck of Germany followed just
1/10th of a second behind Van Rouwendaal in third. While Cunha opened up just a
little open water, winning by 2.5 seconds, just 3/10ths of a second separated
the second-to-sixth positions.
Pure Roots of Racing
Open water swimming offers the purest
form of racing. From ocean racing to freshwater, from waves to currents to
winds, athletes race against their competitors and conditions – and not the
clock.
With a consistent 12-knot
northeasterly wind meeting a rapidly ebbing midday Atlantic tide the FINA
Marathon Swim World Series opener in Portugal punctuated the pureness of
long-distance ocean racing.
Even before taking on the five-lap,
two-kilometre course athletes and coaches alike frequently relied on a variety of
adjectives to describe the tough, challenging and changing race conditions. The
athletes – even those coming to the sport from more pool-based backgrounds –
said Saturday’s competition was something they were looking forward to.
Course and Currents
The composition of this circuit
invited the leading athletes to have a 150m sprint at the very end of the race.
As the leading competitors mentioned in their pre-race reconnaissance, tactics
on the last turn were essential. With Sunday turning to the innovative Mixed
Relay open water race format, look for more of the same tomorrow.
Temperatures and Tapas
With the pre-race water temperature
coming in at 17.5 degrees Celsius, racing in a wetsuit was mandatory.
The scene from the ocean promenade
showed why Setubal is a preferred stop on the open water calendar. Music and
commentators filling the airwaves and unobstructed views of the rectangular
course passing just metres from shore made for both a racer and spectator-friendly
environment.
Written by: Torin Koos, FINA
Communication Manager
Men's 10km Results https://www.fina.org/competitions/2916/fina-marathon-swim-world-series-2022/results?event=02599242-2cc0-4744-91ba-ff93b2c15269
No comments:
Post a Comment