An All-Star cast took to the seas at 11am local time and as could be expected the elite swimmers, considered by many to be the best endurance athletes in the world, did not disappoint. Also in attendance were many of the nearly 200 local and regional competitors who tackled their own aquatic adventure earlier in the morning over the same 2.5 kilometer course. What all the fans witnessed was a clinic in FINA marathon racing that saw a couple of our Olympic medal winners demonstrate how well deserved those Beijing medals were.
Larisa Ilchenko (RUS)
The men’s race pace was serious from the get-go thanks to a pair of Aussies focused on success. Veteran Brendan Capell led early and his country mate Trent Grimsey, fresh off a big win at the Tiburon mile, were relentless through the first 7000 meters. A large pack hung around through that mark and with 3000 meters to go any of twenty males could realistically be considered for a podium appearance. It was at that time that the Aussie duo and Mexican Olympian Luis Escobar made an error in course navigation that cost them dearly. Acting on what they unfortunately assumed was accurate information, they intended to by-pass the start gate on their last loop. An official boat intercepted them in time to retrace their mistake, but the damage was done. About that time Olympic Bronze medalist Thomas Lurz (GER) took charge and never let up that control all the way to the finish in a time of 1:52.23.31 one second ahead of Mexico’s own Ivan Lopez who took the silver two seconds ahead of Russia’s Daniil Serebrennikov.
The ladies race proved to be a bit more of a cat and mouse game between Olympic Gold medalist Larisa Ilchenko and a host of FINA’s finest marathon swimmers. To be noted is that Larisa definitely took her turn in the driver’s seat and led at various points during the first 5 kilometers. Also sharing duties were Italy’s Alice Franco and Germany’s Britta Kamrau. The pace quickened as would be expected by the fourth loop and coming off the last turn with 300 meters to go Britta was holding off Larisa and her German teammate Angela Mauer. Mexico’s Imelda Martinez and Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha were still both in the mix as well. The Europeans proved the cream of the crop down the stretch as yet once again, Ms. Ilchenko cranked up her classic power sprint to grab the gold less than a second ahead of Angela and two seconds before Britta’s bronze.
Again, it should be noted that the local folks and host Federation did an outstanding job in putting together this event. It is definitely an athlete favorite and we all hope to see it continue to grow stronger for years to come.
Thomas Lurz (GER)