Gregorio Paltrinieri, Kristof Rasovszky Tie for FINA Marathon Swim World Series Title; Ana Marcela Cunha Wins Women’s
The final stop of the FINA Marathon Swim World Series took place Saturday in Eilat, Israel, with 10-kilometer races for men and women, and Italian distance star Gregorio Paltrinieri secured the win to move into a tie with Hungarian rival Kristof Rasovszky for the overall series win with 2400 points apiece. Meanwhile, Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha placed second in the women’s race, enough to defeat Dutch rival Sharon Van Rouwendaal for the series win.
In an extremely tight finish where less than eight seconds separated the top seven finishers and the top 20 performers all touched within 26 seconds of each other, Paltrinieri beat France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier by 1.6 seconds with a mark of 1:46:41.80, while Olivier took second in 1:46:43.20. Third went to Hungary’s David Betlehem (1:46:44.20), with Rasovszky placing fourth by a tenth over Italy’s Domenico Acerenza (1:46:45.40 to 1:46:45.50).
Rasovszky held the series lead after series stops in Portugal (May), France (July) and Canada (August), with the October stop in Puerto Rico canceled. Paltrinieri was the 10k winner in Portugal and France, but he did not compete in the Canada race, so he needed to win with Rasovszky fifth or worse to secure the title outright. However, the 25-year-old Hungarian’s fourth-place finish secured the tie. Betlehem ended up third in the overall rankings with 2150 points.
It has been a remarkable 2022 for Paltrinieri, who swam the second-fastest time in history in the 1500 freestyle as he reclaimed the world title in the event, and in the days after that win, the Italian won three open water medals, gold in the 10k, silver in the 5k and bronze in the team relay. Paltrinieri also claimed the title at the European Championships in the 800 free.
Men’s Top 10 Finishers
- Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy), 1:46:41.8
- Marc-Antoine Olivier (France), 1:46:43.4
- David Betlehem (Hungary), 1:46:44.2
- Kristof Rasovszky (Hungary), 1:46:45.4
- Domenico Acerenza (Italy), 1:46:45.5
- Andrea Manzi (Italy), 1:46:47.1
- Dario Verani (Italy), 1:46:49.7
- David Aubry (France), 1:46:54.2
- Athanasios Kynigakis (Greece), 1:46:54.8
- Matteo Furlan (Italy), 1:46:56.0
The women’s 10k race went to Australia’s Chelsa Gubecka in 1:56:19.8, 3.8 seconds ahead of Cunha. Gubecka secured her first-ever race win on this circuit, while Cunha claimed an overall title she first won in 2010 before additional wins in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2021. Cunha won gold medals in the 5k and 25k at this year’s World Championships plus a bronze in the 10k, and along with Paltrinieri, she was named Open Water Swimmer of the Year in this month’s issue of Swimming World Magazine.
Germany’s Leonie Beck edged out France’s Aurelie Muller for third, 1:56:25.3 to 1:56:25.4, while Van Rouwendaal placed fifth in 15:28.20 on her way to a runnerup circuit finish. Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci placed ninth in 1:56:31.8, enough to secure a third-place finish for the entire series.
Women’s Top 10 Finishers
- Chelsea Gubecka (Australia), 1:56:19.8
- Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil), 1:56:23.6
- Leonie Beck (Germany), 1:56:25.3
- Aurelie Muller (France), 1:56:25.4
- Sharon Van Rouwendaal (Netherlands), 1:56:28.2
- Mira Szimcsak (Hungary), 1:56:29.5
- Angelia Andre (Portugal), 1:56:30.7
- Mariah Denigan (USA), 1:56:31.4
- Ginevra Taddeucci (Italy), 1:56:31.8
- Jeanette Spiwoks (Germany), 1:56:32.2
Full results from the races are available here, and overall points standings are linked here.