Story by Zal Dastur
The elite men swimmers turning into the next lap of their 10km race. (Photo courtesy of organisers)
East Coast, Singapore, October 4, 2008 – Larissa llchenko from Russia swam a fantastic race to win the 2008 FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup event held at East Coast Park last Sunday morning in a time of 2hr 15min 22sec. This takes Larissa on to 58 points in the world cup standings, bringing her closer to the coveted World Cup championship. The Singapore crown caps off a fantastic year for Larissa and can be added to the Olympic gold medal that she won in Beijing and the European Open Water Championship won earlier this year.
When asked what she thought of her victory, Larissa said: "I race every race differently, so my approach changes with each event. I thought for me this race was quite easy as the water was warmer than I am usually used to." Larissa also said, "After the next event in Mexico I am hoping to get some rest because I have not stopped swimming since the Olympics."
It was a close fought battle with all swimmers giving their all and pushing themselves for valuable points as the season draws to a close. Ana Marcela Cunha from Brazil and current world cup leader Angela Maurer from Germany did very well to come in second and third with times of 2hr 16min 25.09sec and 2 hr 16 min 27.32sec respectively. This brings the competitors much closer in the final championship standings with only one more event in Cancun, Mexico on October 11th.
In the men's side of the race there was an unusual finish as Valerio Cleri from Italy and Daniil Serebrennikov from Russia were both awarded joint first place with a victory time of 2hr 9min 20.25sec. In a world class field, both Valerio and Daniil showed true quality to finish joint first, with Valerio extending his lead in the world rankings. Mazen Mohamed Aziz from Egypt and Yury Kudinov from Russia came in third and fourth respectively with a time of 2hr 09min 31.08sec and 2hr 09min 21.99sec. The two Singaporean swimmers competing in the elite category, Brandon Boon and Tze Yang Ng, did well in this highly competitive field to finish with a time of 2hr 24min 03.00sec and 2hr 24min 32.15sec respectively.
When asked about his victory, Valerio said: "It was a tough race because it is very hot here. We have been competing every week for the last three weeks, so I am feeling quite tired, but of course I am happy to win."
Brandon Boon, one of the Singaporean representatives swimming in the elite category, said: "It was quite a rough sea and I was very tired in the last two laps, but it is good to be swimming with such international swimmers."
The other event that took place today was the Singapore Open Water Swim 2008, where over 700 of Singapore's best amateur swimmers took part in various categories such as the 500m, 1km, 3km and 5km race. There was a lot of enthusiasm as everyday swimmers were keen to compete against each other across all of the distances. The distances were further divided into age groups to make sure that the competition was evenly spread across the field.
In the 500m kids swim young Bryce Chong Sheng Che came first for the boys. In the girls category Sophia Evisoff won, when asked about her victory the shy 11 year old said "I am happy to win, and want to try and be like Larissa and go to the Olympics."
The amateur ladies start their race at the East Coast. (Photo courtesy of organisers)
FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup - Men's
(Name Country Time)
Valerio CLERI Italy 02:09:20.25
Daniil SEREBRENNIKOV Russia 02:09:20.25
Mazen Mohamed AZIZ Egypt 02:09:31.08
Yury KUDINOV Russia 02:09:21.09
Ivan Jesus LOPEZ Mexico 02:09:22.41
Kane Rae Francis RADFORD New Zealand 02:09:49.10
Kerin ROK Slovenia 02:10:55.68
Allan DO CARMO Brazil 02:12:26.77
Mihails SUDAKOVS Latvia 02:22:55.13
Brandon BOON Singapore 02:24:03.00
Tze Yang Ng Singapore 02:24:32.15
FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup - Women's
(Name Country Time)
Larisa ILCHENKO Russia 02:15:22.00
Ana Marcela CUNHA Brazil 02:16:25.09
Imelda MARTINEZ Mexico 02:16:27.32
Ekaterina ZHDANOVA Russia 02:16:53.24
Angela MAURER Germany 02:17:13.81
Shelley CLARK Slovenia 02:18:47.54
Anna UVAROVA Russia DQ
Leave A Comment