The tricolours red, white and green were the shades of the day for the 6km Mixed Team Relay in Setubal, Portugal during the opening leg of the FINA Marathon Swim World Series 2022 as Italy 1 raced gold, Italy 2 took silver and Hungary 1 completed the podium.
Setubal (Portugal) – Mixing and
matching their usual customary running order, Italy 1 anchor Mario Sanzullo
just held off a hard-charging Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy 2 by two seconds to
win in 1:12:27.
Kristof Rasovszky matched his bronze
medal performance from Saturday’s 10km Individual to bring Hungary home in
third, finishing in 1:13:21.
Racing in front of a supportive
partisan crowd, Portugal was in silver medal position heading into third of
four legs before slightly fading to finish fourth in 1:15:14. Brazil rounded
out Sunday’s field, finishing fifth in 1:18:53.
6km Mixed Team Relay Race Format
An innovative race format that made
its international debut at last December’s Marathon Swim World Series Grand
Finale in Abu Dhabi (UAE), the 6km Mixed Team Relay consists of two male and
two female athletes each racing 1500m. Countries are free to choose their
running order, with all teams in Setubal deciding to start the two opening legs
with female competitors before tagging off to their male teammates for the
final two loops around the course.
Racing in the open ocean, the
conditions called for increasing winds and stronger currents as the tide ebbed,
which teams said factored in using the male swimmers in the choppier waters. The
weather report held true, with a steady sea breeze turning brisker as the
competition went along. The current stiffened as well on the second half of the
course as the ocean moved towards low tide.
With the water temperature
registering below 18 degrees Celsius, wetsuit racing was again mandatory.
How the Race Played Out
Led off by starter Giulia
Gabbrielleschi, Italy 1 opened a 21-second gap over Italy 2’s Martina De Memme
before handing off to teammate Ginevra Taddeucci.
While Taddeucci kept the lead,
Portugal eighteen-year-old Mafalda Rosa swam an inspired second leg to bring
the home side into second, handing off just before Hungary’s Anna Olasz at the
midway mark of the race.
On the third leg, the final order
came into focus, with Marcello Guidi adding an additional 17 seconds to the
35-second advantage Italy 1 had heading into the anchor leg as Hungary lurked
just a little further back in third.
It’s never a good idea to count
Paltrinieri out from a race. And what a race the Olympic and FINA World
Champion made of it in Setubal. After not making up much ground to Italy 1
anchor Sanzullo on the first half of the course, Paltrinieri clawed back over
30 seconds heading back home, swimming against the current.
Undaunted, Sanzullo never let
Paltrinieri quite draw level to earn the Italy 1 quartet a close victory in the
first of four 6km Mixed Team Relays on the open water World Series 2022
calendar.
“I’m very excited to win the relay.
It was very, very hard and Gregorio nearly caught me, but I was able to touch
the finish line first,” a beaming Sanzulla said after the race. “This type of
racing is really fun. It’s tough coming back racing after yesterday’s 10km, but
I did it for the team. I had to dig hard and push, but we were able to do it.”
Paltrinieri struck the pose of a
satisfied competitor at the finish line.
“The relay is the best race ever,”
Paltrinieri said. “It’s the type of race where you can have a lot of fun. I
closed the gap a lot, but in the end, I was really tired and couldn’t do
anything more.
“I like this type of competition.
It’s super fun. It’s cool,” Paltrinieri added. “Even if we had the 10km
yesterday, it’s just 1500m so you just go for it. I like it so much.”
The Hungarian bronze-medal-winning
quartet of Reka Rohacs, Anna Olasz, David Betlehem and Kristof Rasovszky also
expressed interest in racing more Mixed Team Relays.
“We’re super excited to be here in
Setubal to do the relay and not just the 10km. I think it’s super cool for
every open water swimmer to swim in a relay as our sport is often very much an
individual sport and we don’t often get the chance to swim as a team,” Olasz
said after the podium presentation. “I'm really happy that the relay is in the
World Series.”
Added Hungarian anchor Rasovszky:
“It’s always tough catching up to the Italians, they’re all really fast. We’re
happy with the third place and hopefully, at the world champs you’ll also see
us on the podium again.”
Results and Rankings
Mixed Team Relay
What’s to Come, Part I: Open Water
Racing at the FINA World Championships
All eyes and attention in the
aquatics world now has its full focus on the 19th FINA World Championships that
come in 20 days’ time. The open water events in Budapest run from 26-30 June,
just after the swimming action from the 50m pool at the Duna Arena concludes.
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