Arianna Bridi crowned the ‘Queen of Seychelles’ as she makes it two years in a row & Marc-Antoine Olivier leads the pack on a fast and furious last lap to finish in first place in the men’s 10km open water race.

• 1.6km loop course (6 laps = 10km total)
• 19 countries competing
• 75 athletes in total (33 women & 42 men)
• Largest teams: Austria, China & Hungary

Perfect conditions greeted the women for their early morning race start in the beautiful resort of Beau Vallon on Mahe, the largest of the Seychelles islands. Dolphins even joined the swimmers at one point during the race where the water temperature was 29 degrees.

Thirty-three swimmers started racing at 08:00, which was twice as many as last years’ race, a testament to the stunning location and good organisation.

As the race was underway it was clear that some swimmers were swimming tactically in the warm waters, with eventual winner Bridi right at the back of the pack in the early stages. Bridi later said: “Yes, I wanted to start at the back and save energy by drafting in the pack and then work my way forward when I was ready.” The Italian team also prepared for the event by arriving 10 days early to acclimatise to the conditions.

Early in the race, Xin Xin from China went to the front of the pack where she stayed for three laps, with other swimmers happy to save energy for the later stages of the race. Brazil’s Cunha was always near the front, ready to cover any breakaway attempts. During the fourth lap the pace really picked up with France’s Muller going to the front and Italy’s Bridi having made her way from the back also starting to take up pace-making duties as well. This put the pack under pressure as it stretched out into lap five with many swimmers not able to cope with the faster pace.

During lap five it was Bridi, Muller, Cunha and Bruni all working at the front with more swimmers falling off the pace, leaving only 17 swimmers in contention. The final lap saw Cunha and Muller fighting it out at the front and Italian swimmers Bridi and Bruni along with the two French swimmers Muller and Grangeon all in contention until the last 500m when Cunha made her move and sprinted for the finish. Bridi went with her and the two were side by side, stroke for stroke right up to the finish, with Bridi claiming first spot in a photo finish.

1^st Arianna Bridi (ITA) 2:01:33.9

2^nd Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) 2:01:34.1

3^rd Lara Grangeon (FRA) 2:01:41.1

4^th Rachele Bruni (ITA) 2:01:41.7

Bridi (ITA) said: “This race was very important to me, in Doha [the first leg of the 2019 FINA CNSG Marathon Swim World Series] I didn’t have a very good race, so I was very happy to have a good result today. At the finish I was next to Ana Marcela and I know she is a real champion and very good at sprinting, so I just had to push and push right until the end.”

Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) said: “I liked the race a lot. Last week I swam in USA nationals, so I was a little tired, but at the world championship I will be swimming in 5km, 10km and 25km so it is good preparation.”

Lara Grangeon (FRA) said: “It’s my first podium at a FINA CNSG Marathon Swim World Series event so I’m really very happy. It was a very good race, the first 5km I stayed with the group and then I worked to the front which was my strategy.”

Similar to the women’s race we saw one of the main contenders sitting right at the back of the pack initially. Olympic gold medallist Ferry Weertman, with his distinctive slow stroke rate, looked at ease as he bided his time in the early stages. Meanwhile, Russia’s Kirill took up early pace-making duties at the front, but Hungary’s Rasovszky and Papp were both ready to pounce. It wouldn’t take long as in lap two Rasovszky went to the front and started to pick up the pace.

The lead was then switched between the two Hungarians until Weertman made his way from the back to the front. Obviously his mission was to shake up the pack and lose as many swimmers as possible.

In lap four Ferry turned onto his back to see who would take up the pace, while he settled into the pack for a break. It was Rasovszky, Sloman (AUS) and then Olivier (FRA) who went to the front and stayed there into lap five. A lot of pressure was now on the pack as it stretched out into a long line, with more and more swimmers falling off the pace.

Going into the final lap with the wind picking up, only 11 swimmers were in the front group with a lot of Australian caps in contention (four would place in the top 10) while Olivier really increased the speed. The splits speak for themselves: the first lap of the race (1.6km/1 mile) took 19:54 and the last lap was 18:24. Olivier was out in front and looked like he was going to hold it, but at the line it was another photo finish for second, third and fourth place.

1^st Marc-Antoine Olivier (FRA) 1:56:02.0

2^nd Nicholas Sloman (AUS) 1:56:04.1

3^rd Kristof Rasovszky (HUN) 1:56:04.3

4^th Ferry Weertman (NED) 1:56:04.8

1^st place Olivier: “It was difficult with the hot weather, I’m very happy to win. At the finish I was thinking about my last heat swimming a 100m race and think about the pain in that race. The Seychelles is beautiful and yesterday I enjoyed myself swimming in the sea with many fish.”

2^nd Place: Sloman: “These hot conditions really suited us Australians and you could see that with where we finished. Coming into the finish I wondered ‘how am I here’ with the other top swimmers, but I just put my head down and went for it.”

3^rd Place Kristof: “It was a tough race, after the third lap the pace picked up and it was hard to save energy for the finish, but I really wanted to get onto the podium, so I raced hard at the end.”

Full results: www.fina.org/event/finahosa-marathon-swim-world-series-2019-2/results

Follow Colin Hill on his YouTube Channel at: www.youtube.com/user/Chillswim and on Instagram www.instagram.com/colin_hill_swims/