The second competition day of the FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships 2018 resumed today in Eilat (ISR), Friday September 7, with the longest race of the event, the boys and girls 10km. 

Conditions today were just as good as the first day, with a water temperature of 27.1°C and a slightly more present light wind which made the first half of the race more physical with intermittent difficulties. 

After TOWSC Vice Chairman Sid Cassidy gave the last safety instructions at the early briefing, the competition started at 8:00am. Cassidy stressed one more time the trajectory and recall the buoy to be turning around because a whole pack of swimmers went the wrong way yesterday and lengthened their race of at least 300m.  

36 boys took the plunge this morning, while 32 girls followed barely 10 minutes after. 

BOYS 10km

Right from the beginning of the race France’s Enzo Roldan Munoz showed his intention to go for a medal today. The latter, 19 in two weeks, settled for the silver medal in 1h49m55s7, while the North American Michael Brinegar, also almost 19, touched home first in 1h49m55s5. Brinegar looked in control during the race, saving energy for the final sprint as his strategy turned out to be successful.

Russia’s Kirill Dolgov, 19, accelerated his pace towards the second half of the 10km event to finally complete the podium, clocking a time of 1h50m00s4.

Hungary’s Peter Galicz, 18, settled for the 11th place despite being part of the leading pack for most of the beginning of the race.

The two Croatians swimmers and Japan’s Ryutaro Hata had to be evacuated of the water.

GIRLS 10km 

Spain, USA, Italy, Russia and China dominated the race and displayed excellent technique this morning. Paula Ruiz Bravo of Spain however ended up being the fasted with an astonishing victory in 1h57m21s9. She understandably came out of the water with tears of joy running on her cheeks giving a hug to her coach and rest of the team. The young athlete put into practice her experience gained at the recent European Championships in Glasgow and Eilat 2018 will forever mark a turning point in her sporting career.

Ruiz Bravo, 19, was closely followed by Peru’s Maria A. Bramont-Arias who gave her country its first medal of the competition. Bramont-Aria fought her way back to the front and claimed silver in 1h57m24s2.

Hungary’s Reka Rohacs, 18, pocketed the bronze up for grab today, touching home in 1h57m26s3.

China’s Dong Fuwei, Leyla Sha Manjon Escobar (BOL) and Hungary’s Luca Vas as well as the two Venezuelan swimmers did not finish the race and were evacuated.

Medals table after Day 2

1. USA: 2 G, 1 B

2.RUS: 1 G, 2 S, 1 B

3. ITA: 1 G, 1 S, 1 B

4. FRA: 1 G, 1 S

5. ESP: 1 G HUN: 1 S, 3 B

6. PER: 1 S

Results (complete results available here

Boys: 1. Michael Brinegar (USA) 1h49m55s5; 2. Enzo Roldan Munoz (FRA) 1h49m55s7; 3. Kirill Dolgov (RUS) 1h50m00s4

Girls  1. Paula Ruiz Bravo (ESP) 1h57m21s9 2. Maria A. Bramont-Arias (PER) 1h57m24s2 3. Reka Rohacs (HUN) 1h57m26s3 

You can watch the 10km event on replay on FINAtv. Underwater and drone shots are available.