NAPOLI, Italy, August 31. AFTER a one-day respite, swimmers made their way back to competition at the fourth FINA World Open Water Championships on Thursday. Not much changed at the pinnacle of both 10k events as day one 5k winners claimed gold in both events during the middle-distance event.
Men’s 10k Open Water
Swimming World Magazine’s 2005 Open Water Co-Swimmer of the Year Thomas Lurz secured his second title of the meet as the German won the men’s 10k in 2:10:39.4.
On the first day of competition, Lurz, the 2005 world champion in the 5k, stopped the clock in 1:04:32.3 to win by a slim .4 seconds over American Charles Peterson, who shared the 2005 Open Water Swimmer of the Year honor with Lurz.
Italy’s Valerio Cleri placed just behind for silver in 2:10:40.5 to touch out Russia’s Evgeny Drattsev, who settled for bronze in 2:10:40.7.
Click Here to view event results PDF file
Women’s 10k Open Water
Russia’s Larisa Ilchenko matched Lurz with her second gold medal of the meet by dominating the women’s edition of the 10k. She concluded the middle-distance open water event in 2:19:49.9.
Ilchenko also pocketed gold on the first day as the three-time world champion in the 5k brought home the 5k title in 1:08:19.7.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Poliana Okimoto split the difference for silver as Russian Ksenia Popova nearly gave Russia a top-two sweep in the race. Okimoto clocked a second-place 2:19:59.3, while Popova placed third in 2:19:59.8.
Click Here to view event results PDF file
Competition continues with the women’s competing in the 25k on Saturday, while the men conclude the meet with the 25k on Sunday.