Written by Andy Ross, World Aquatics
Correspondent
Image Source: Andrea Masini/Deepbluemedia.eu/Insidefoto
Germany’s Leonie Beck backed up her
World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup win in Somabay with another in
Golfo Aranci, Italy. The 25-year-old again came from well off the pace, going
from 58th to 1st over the six laps in Sardinia.
Germany’s Leonie Beck showed off her
stellar open water racing skills in Golfo Aranci, going from 58th place at the
end of lap 1 of 6 to first by the end of lap five to hold the lead all the way
to 10,000 meters as she won her second straight World Series race with a
1:56:17.4. Beck won ahead of Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci (1:56:18.6) and Giulia
Gabbrielleschi (1:56:20.5), who paced the lead pack on the front half.
France’s Aurelie Muller, who was one
of the pre-race favourites, had set the pace on the front half as the
32-year-old led the Italians in their home waters. The pace was quick early on
due to the water temperature being around 17 degrees Celsius as the finishing
time was eight minutes quicker than it was in Somabay two weeks ago.
Rain fell on the swimmers and the
coaches with air temperatures only a few degrees warmer than the water. Most
notably, Olympic champion Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil scratched out of the race
due to the unfavourable conditions as she Brazilian continues her comeback from
off-season surgery, leaving the race without perhaps the greatest open water
swimmer of all time.
However, the quick pace got the best
of the leaders as the pace progressed. There was little separation amongst the
leaders through the first four laps, with Muller leading the race at the fourth
checkpoint ahead of France’s Caroline Jouisse and Taddeucci with a group of
about 30 swimmers in a pack that spanned about 13 seconds.
On lap five, the Germans Beck and Lea
Boy, who laid back on the first three laps, made their moves on laps four and
five to get into the front pack. Beck breached the front pack an hour and 20
minutes into the race and took the lead at an hour and 32 minutes, and all of a
sudden it was her race to lose. The lead pack started to dissipate from 30
swimmers to about 20 on the final checkpoint heading into the sixth lap of six.
Beck stayed steady on her stroke on
the final lap holding Taddeucci in her sights as the Italian was hoping to win
in her home nation. Taddeucci was at Beck’s feet on the final lap, with Jouisse
and Gabbrielleschi in tow. Muller started to fall back on the final lap as the
early pace caught up to her, while Germany’s Boy emerged very late in the race
as a contender, breaching the top four about an hour and 50 minutes in.
As Beck controlled the race on the
final lap, she got a very late last-second push from the likes of Taddeucci,
who tried to create her own path on the outside to the finish line, but it was
not enough as Beck won by 1.2 seconds after nearly two hours of racing.
Taddeucci was second while Gabbrielleschi was third in a photo finish over Boy
(1:56:20.6).
Jouisse was fifth after falling off
the pace on lap six, finishing at 1:56:26.5, while American Mariah Denigan
(1:56:31.2) was sixth and Muller (1:56:32.0) was seventh.
The reigning women's 10km World
Aquatics champion Sharon van Rouwendaal was eighth at 1:56:32.7 after leading
the race through the first and third laps, taking the sprint points as she
leads the standings over Muller through the first two races.
The junior champion was American
Katie Grimes, who was 17th overall at 1:57:18.6, swimming in her first World
Cup in 2023.
The water temperatures were reported
to be 17 degrees Celsius during the race as the frigid conditions caused the
men to all be wearing wet suits in the waters of Golfo Aranci. The overcast
weather matched the water temperature, and the cold conditions caused 12 women
to exit the race early, while pre-race favourite Ana Marcela Cunha scratched
the race and did not start.
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