Peter Stoychev (Bulgaria) announced he was retiring from future FINA world championship competitions after winning the Men’s 25km race in 5:10:39.8. Vladimir Dyatchin (Russia) was 35.8 seconds behind in 5:11:15.6 and Csaba Gercak (Hungary) was third with 5:11:18.1. The water temperature hit 31 degrees but the decision of the referee was to keep swimming.
In 2007, Stoychev became the fastest person to swim across the English Channel in 6h 57m, beating Christof Wandratsch’s 2005 mark of 7h 03m. Stoychev has been overall winner of the FINA Open Water World Cup eight times.
In the Women’s 25km race, Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil) won gold in 5:29:22.9. Angela Maurer (Germany) was 2.1 seconds behind on 5:29:25.0 for the silver and Alice Franco (Italy) was third in 5:29:30.8.
View highlights from Women’s and Men’s 25km Open water swims (14m 39s flashplayer required)
Maurer also expressed her concerns: “The water was hot today….Athletes have no other options but to trust their coach and to trust the referees. We have no chance to change anything. What can you do during a race besides swim?”
Click to view results.