Italy's Simone Ruffini stormed to the finish wall to take victory in the sixth race of the FINA/HOSA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup in Chun'an Qiandao Lake (CHN) on Sunday while China's Xin Xin brought local fans a surprise as she claimed the first ever medal at the World Cup for China.
With a temperature of 25 centigrade and breeze on the Qiandao Lake, swimmers enjoyed great conditions and view as Italian Ruffini finished the men's race in a time of 1h5601m3s.
Germany’s Andreas Waschburger, winner of the last stop in Canada and front runner before the finish, came to second position in 1h56m02.9s and Allan Do Carmo of Brazil third in 1h56m05.6s.
Chun'an (CHN)
"I am very happy and satisfied with the victory. It is my first time to race at the World Cup in China, and I won! I felt comfortable with the venue, the lake and the weather. Everything was perfect. I only started to swim faster and harder from the last lap. I changed the pace of my swim from the last two floats. I went out of the group and went to the front. It was an easy game, I think," said Ruffini.
"Usually I train in an indoor pool in Rome. However, my indoor pool result is not very good compared to the fastest ones. I enjoy the open water much better. In Italy, the most popular and important sport is football for sure, but now open water swimming is getting more popular." Ruffini added before revealing his winning factor:
“I kept training and competing after the Olympic Games."
In the women's race, China's Xin Xin, fourth place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, only showed her speed from the last lap and shrugged off all her rivals to touch home first in 2h05m55.8s. It is the first time in history that a Chinese swimmer wins a race of the FINA World Cup.
Xin Xin (CHN)
Cecilia Biagioli of Argentina snatched the silver medal in 2h06m37.1s and Arianna Bridi, Italy, champion at the last stop in Canada came third in 2h06m37.7s.
Xin, who won the first gold medal for China at the Asian Beach Games two weeks ago in Vietnam, said she tried to save her energy during most of the race.
"I am very happy to be the first Chinese swimmer to grab a crown in the World Cup and on top a stage held in my country. I feel proud of myself and our Chinese swimmers as a whole. However, I am still inexperienced in open water since I started just three years ago. According to my limited experience, the pace setters are not the final champions. So I tried to hide most of the race. Sometimes I was almost the last one of the group to save my energy. The last one lap was very important for me, I tried my best to get away from my rivals," Xin smiled.
“Right now, I compete in both swimming and open water and I enjoy it. It is a different feeling to swim in the open water with currant and beautiful views. Today I followed the race plan and took control of my pace. I am trying to get more experience by racing more legs. I hope I can swim well in the next stop in Hong Kong,” said Xin, who turns 20 next month.
A total of 53 swimmers, 29 men and 24 women, representing 11 Federations competed in the sixth leg of the World Cup in Chun'an. The next and final leg of the 2016 circuit of the FINA/HOSA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup will be held in Hong Kong on October 15.