CAPELL'S SILVER LINING OVER 36KM IN CAPRI-NAPLES
June 29: Australia's former world open water champion, Brendan Capell has finished second in the gruelling 36-kilometre Capri-Naples FINA Grand Prix in Italy.
Capell, who is in Europe with Ironman Olympian Ky Hurst preparing to swim the English Channel, took 7 hours 02 minutes 02 secs to cover the course in a perfect warm up for the crossing.
The Michael Bohl-coached Capell from Brisbane, finished second to Argentina's pre-race favourite Damian Blaum (6hr 58m 05s) with local heroes Andrea Volpin (7:03.47) third and Mattia Alberico (7:04.38) fourth.
Capri-Naples is one of the real open water strong holds of international open water swimming and attracted 20 swimmers (12 men and eight women) from nine countries.
In the women's race Andrea Romiti won the gold medal in 7h26m58s from Pilar Geijo (ARG), who climbed the podium for the fourth time this year (twice for gold, once for bronze and this time for silver).
Spanish star Esther Nunez Morera too made her fourth podium appearance, for the bronze this time, in a time of 7h27m07s.
Meanwhile in Setubal Bay, Portugal, for the third race of the FINA 10km, a record 74 athletes (39 men and 25 women) including some of the biggest names, from 21 countries took to the water.
Water temperature was 18.7 °C and swimmers had to complete five laps of a 2km diamond-shaped course, with FINA President Dr Julio Maglione starting the race in front of 500 enthusiastic spectators.
The races featured high-level competition and extraordinarily close finishes among both men and women.
In the men's race, it was a German-Bulgarian affair, with the celebrated German world champion Thomas Lurz and Bulgaria's legendary open water star Petar Stoychev at the helm for the entire race.
In the end, the powerful German swimmer made a victorious sprint to the gold medal, winning in 2h01m05s just one second ahead of the dogged Stoychev.
Azerbaijan's rising talent Sergiy Fesenko (seventh in Viedma) secured the bronze, clocking 2h01m12s. Just out of medal range was Chad Ho (RSA), silver-medallist in the first two stages of the circuit, while Brazilian star Allan do Carmo, who was widely expected to medal in this competition, placed only 14th.
In the women's race, five swimmers took the lead after the third lap, leaving a 100-metre gap between them and the rest of the pack: Olga Berenyeva (UKR), Angela Maurer (GER), Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), Poliana Okimoto (BRA) and Martina Grimaldi (ITA).
During the fourth and fifth laps, the gap widened even more and it was 2009 FINA World Championship bronze medallist from Rome in the same distance, Martina Grimaldi, who won the race in 2h16m31s50.
Grimaldi, who placed second in the first race of the circuit, continues to make a name for herself as the World Cup unfolds.
Within the same second, consistent performer Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA, first in Santos and fourth in Viedma, placed second, while veteran swimmer Angela Maurer (GER, fifth in Santos and first in Viedma) had to settle for bronze, timing 2h16m34s.