The 25km races that closed the 5th FINA World Open Water Championships in Seville (ESP) took place on May 8 and resulted in wins for Maarten Van der Weijden (NED) and Ksenia Popova (RUS) in the men’s and women’s fields respectively. Van der Weijden relied on patience and strategy to finish with a time of 5:04:01.1, just 0.5secs ahead of Mark Warkentin (USA), who clocked 5:04:01.6. With a time of 5:04:01.6, bronze went to Yuriy Koudinov (RUS). Bulgaria’s Petar Stoychev placed fourth in 5:04:08.0. In the women’s field, another close finish saw the experienced Edith Van Dijk (NED) take 2nd behind Popova in 5:27:50.3, while Natalya Pankina (RUS) took bronze in 5:27:53.9.

Both of the 25km races featured swift packs of competitors who shifted leadership as they progressed across this momentous distance. Thus, noteworthy performances were also given by Mohamed El-Zanaty (EGY), in 5th in 5:04:21.2, Marco Formentini (ITA), in 6th (5:04:25.3), as well as Mazen Aziz (EGY), the youngest competitor in his race at 18, who took 7th in 5:05:08.7. Impressive swims for women came from 4th-place Linsy Heister (NED) in 5:28:08.8, 5th-place Kate Brookes-Peterson (AUS) in 5:28:09.9, as well as from Marilyn Cadour (FRA) and Shelley Clark (AUS).
May 6 featured the 5km races and in the women’s field, Larisa Ilchenko (RUS) continued her domination, winning the event in a time of 1:00:04.6 after having won the 10km event two days before. Silver went to her teammate Ekaterina Seliverstova (RUS) in a time of 1:00:07.8, while bronze went to Chloe Sutton (USA) (1:00:09.9), who led the field for a considerable portion of the race before being overcome by the Russians in the final stretch. Tied for 4th at 1:00:16.5 were Jana Pechanova (CZE) and Jing Zheng (CHN).

Thomas Lurz (GER) won among men in 54:57.3 and therefore successfully defended his world 5km title. Lurz also won bronze on Sunday in the 10km. Silver went to Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS), winner of the 10km event, and bronze was reserved for Van der Weijden (NED); a well-deserved result for the now 25km world champion, which he achieved through a magnificent effort in the final sprint for the finish. In 4th was Chad La Tourette (USA) in 55:04.5, while 5th place went to Christian Hein (GER) in 55:04.6.

For more details on the 10km races, please consult PR 31, issued on May 5, 2008.