ROBERVAL, Canada, July 20. THE "sprint" portion of the FINA World Open Water Championships held in Roberval took place today with the men's and women's 5K events taking place.
Eva Fabian of the U.S. used an unfortunate disqualification in the Olympic-distance 10K event on Saturday as motivational fuel to sprint through the entire 5K race. Fabian led throughout, taking a body-length lead at the 2.5K and holding on for a comfortable win by the end of the race.
Fabian clocked a 31:15.835 split at the halfway mark before winning the race in 1:02:00.988 at the final stop. Fabian's closest competitors at the 2.5K mark checked in with 31:21 and 31:22 splits.
"It was really good today," Fabian told reporters. "The start was really fast. I had attempted to make a breakaway a few times, but I wasn't able to get away from everyone. I was pretty tired, but I made sure I had plenty left for the sprint at the finish. The water was really nice today, a perfect temperature. I made sure that I was on the right side of buoy #4, the one I missed the other day. It was a tough race, and I felt the waves give me trouble. Some of the waves were bigger than me, but it was a great race and a great finish. It was my best sprint ever and I am really happy with how I swam today."
Italy's Giorgia Consiglio claimed her second silver of the meet with a 1:02:01.088, while Brazil's Ana Marcela Cunha completed the podium with a bronze-winning 1:02:02.688. Brazil's Poliana Okitmoto, who was disqualified with Fabian after the two collided in the 10K and missed a turn, tied with Christine Jennings of the U.S. for fourth with matching 1:02:02.788s.
In the end, seven yellow cards were issued, while Russia's Ekaterina Seliverstova was disqualified for unsporting conduct.
On the men's side, Germany's Thomas Lurz took a different route to his victory in the 5K with a 57:42.63 in the end. The victory is Lurz's sixth straight world title in the 5K event. He hung out with the lead pack the entire way, splitting a 29:22.212 at the 2.5K mark, before winning the sprint to the finish. Russia's Evgeny Drattsev finished second overall with a 57:44.15, while Fran Crippen of the U.S. rounded out the podium with a third-place 57:46.48. Spain's Diego Nogueira Montera attempted to duplicate Fabian's strategy with an all-out sprint as he led at the halfway mark with a 29:17.42 split, but paid for the efforts by fading to 13th in 58:01.11. Crippen remained with Nogueira Montera through the initial stages of the race with a 29:19.771 midway split.
The swimsuit controversy continued today as a source told Swimming World that the Italian coaching staff has stated that their swimmers have been wearing one of the open water-only suits approved just this past week. This is contrary to information released to the media by FINA that suits being worn this week were approved back in April.
At best, this is a misunderstanding where suits were approved in preparation for the June 1, 2010 date when open water swimming was allowed to go back to full body suits (with no zippers), but FINA failed to inform the masses by announcing these approvals early enough. At worst, manufacturers were allowed to produce suits that were only available to a select few swimmers just a week or so, and in four cases days, before the 2010 World Open Water Championships in Roberval.
Here is the list of open water-only suits posted on the FINA Approved List in the time between the June 1, 2010 open water-only suit rule change and this weekend at Worlds:
June 3 Listing:
(June 3) Descente NUX-W ARN-OPW01W full women OWS only
(June 3) Descente NUX-W ARN-OPW02W full women OWS only
(June 3) Descente NUX-W ARN-OPW03W full men OWS only
(June 3) Descente NUX-W ARN-OPW04W pants men OWS only
(June 3) Mizuno Corporation Accel Suits / OW RC pants men OWS only
(June 3) Mizuno Corporation Accel Suits / OW OB full women OWS only
(June 3) Mizuno Corporation Water Gene / OW RC pants men OWS only
(June 3) Mizuno Corporation Water Gene / OW OB full women OWS only
(June 3) Tyr Sports Inc. Tracer Light OW pants men OWS only
(June 3) Tyr Sports Inc. Tracer Light OW full women OWS only
July 7 Listing:
(July 7) Adidas Hydrofoil 2 Open Water Tight Men F0140610 pants men OWS only
(July 7) Adidas Hydrofoil 2 Open Water Suit Men F0140611 full men OWS only
(July 7) Adidas Hydrofoil 2 Open Water Suit Women F0140612 full women
OWSonly
(July 7) Diana Submarine 300M Vega O.W. pants men OWS only
(July 7) Diana Submarine 307W Vega O.W. full-body women OWS only
(July 7) Jaked J07 SHARK FWL full-body women OWS only
(July 7) Jaked J07 SHARK PL pants men OWS only
(July 7) Jaked J17 SHARK FML full men OWS only
July 15 Listing:
(July 15) Arena Italia S.p.A. Powerskin R-EVO OW OW4-v1 pants-short men OWS only
(July 15) Arena Italia S.p.A. Powerskin R-EVO OW OW4-v3 pants-short men OWS only
(July 15) Diana Submarine 303M Vega O.W. full-body men OWS only
(July 15) Tyr Sports Inc. Tracer Light OW full men OWS only