Hungarian Kristof Rasovszky and American Haley Anderson won in Setubal (Portugal) the third leg of FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series, contested for the first time in wetsuits because the water temperature was below 18 Celsius degrees.
 
Kristof Rasovszky was the winner of the male's event for second year in a row. The Hungarian swimmer secured his second triumph in Setubal at 1h55m58s, ahead of Italian Mario Sanzullo (1h56m22s) and Britain Jack Burnell (1h56m23s).
 
"I am really happy. I won here in Setubal last year and it is nice to win again", Kristof Rasovszky said.
 
He was the fastest swimmer in a tricky race.
 
"It was windy, the water was cold so we had to swim in wetsuits and it was hard because we had never swum in a race in wetsuits before", he said.
 
He placed into the first positions with two laps to go. Then he captured the gold medal.
 
Mario Sanzullo, who was second, recognized that he was extremely happy with his result. "It is my first time in a podium in a World Series event, so now I can say that I love Setubal", he joked.
 
British Jack Burnell took bronze medal after beating Olympic champion Ferry Weertman (Netherlands).
 
 
In the women's event, American Haley Anderson touched first in 2h05m19. Setubal also brings her nice memories: she won the Olympic qualifying event in 2012. Today she triumphed ahead of Sharon van Rouwendaal (Netherlands) and Kareena Lee (Australia).
 
"It was a really hard race because currents were really tough", Haley Anderson said.
 
She surpassed Olympic champion Sharon van Rouwendaal by just one second. "When you are leading at the end you just try to hold on. I know that she is really fast but I am happy for the way I finished the race", she added.
 
 
Sharon van Rouwendaal recognized that her American opponent was stronger. "When I realized that she was in front for fifteen meters, I tried to close the gap but she had more speed and it was impossible to catch her. She had more energy at the end, I think. I am very happy to get the podium. I tried to win but I was really tired at the end", she said.
 
Kareena Lee, who got third, explained that both Haley Anderson and Sharon van Rouwendaal had a "stronger finish". In any case, she was "really excited" after the race. "It is amazing being third, it is the highest for me in a World Series event", she said.
 
The next meet of the FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series 2018 will take place in Balatonfüred (HUN), June 16.