By Tracie May-Wagner, Swimming World Contributor
On Sunday, May 12, at Beau Vallon Beach, on the beautiful north western coast of Mahe, Seychelles, was the second stop of the FINA Marathon Swim World Series.
With nine races in four continents scheduled for the 2019 season, the circuit began this past February in Doha, Qatar, with the next leg in Seychelles and then onto Setubal, Portugal, Balatonfured, Hungary, Lac St. Jean and Lac Magantic, Canada, Ohrid, Macedonia, and Nantou, Taipei, before finishing in Chun’An, China in September.
Seventy Six top athletes, representing 19 countries from across the globe, competed in the grueling 10K open water race, logging in a 6.2 mile swim within the warm turquoise blue waters of the Indian Ocean.
The FINA Marathon Swim World Series 10K women’s open water race began at 8am, with Italy’s Arianna Bridi taking first place, for the second consecutive year in Seychelles, touching in at 2:01:33.9. Immediately following, in second place, was Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil with a painfully close, nearly identical final time of 2:01:34.1. Third place went to France’s Lara Marguerite Grangeon, clocking in at 2:01:41.1, fourth to Italy’s Rachele Bruni at 2:01:41.7, fifth to Aurelie Muller of France at 2:01:55.7 and sixth place to Australia’s Kareena Jane Lee with a final time of 2:01:55.7.
Photo Courtesy: Vanessa Lucas- Seychelles Tourism Board
The FINA Marathon Swim World Series men’s 10K came to an exciting finish with Marc-Antoine Olivier of France taking first with his fantastic time of 1:56:02.0. A close second went to Nicholas Sloman of Australia, touching in at 1:56:04.1, with an even closer third by Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary at 1:56:04.3. Ferry Weertman of Netherlands, the 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist for 10 km open water marathon, took the fourth spot at 1:56:04.8, Bailey Stephen Armstrong of Australia clocked in at 1:56:14.1 and Australia’s Kal Edwards landed with a final time of 1:56:24.7.
Photo Courtesy: Tracie May-Wagner
“It was an exciting day of racing,” said David Vidot, Chairman of the Seychelles Swimming Association.
“This is our second world series, and it’s not an easy task to manage, but the weather was perfect, the water is warm and the ladies were treated to a school of dolphins racing closely next to them. This place (Seychelles) is truly heaven, and today proved that our home is indeed heavenly. We are the first African country to host an open water world series, and we hope that other African nations will follow suit and help further highlight Africa as a world class destination for competitive aquatic sports.”
Check out more open water news here.
Photo Courtesy: Vanessa Lucas- Seychelles Tourism Board
Thank you for your coverage of open water swimming. Please include links to results in articles about competitions because some of us want to know who took 7th, 11th, and 20th place.
Bravo Lara
Results are linked in there now.
Congratulations