Pop Acev and Franco take gold in Macedonia
The fourth leg of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix took place on 29 August in Lake Ohrid, Macedonia. In the men’s 33km race it was a home win for Macedonia’s Evgenij Pop Acev in 5h39m42s while Alice Franco of Italy dominated the women’s race, claiming gold in 5h44m03s. It was the second win of the season for Franco, after her victory in the inaugural leg of the series in Argentina. For Pop Acev, this was the first success of the year.
Matheus Evangelista (Brazil) took silver in the men’s competition, six seconds behind Pop Acev, in 5h39m48s. Also six seconds later, Tomi Stefanovski (Macedonia) completed the podium in 5h39m54s. The provisional series leader, France’s Bertrand Venturi, was fourth in 5h39m55s.
In the women’s competition, Franco was more than 14 minutes ahead of silver medalist Ana Mankevich (Russia), who touched in 5h58m43. Esther Nunez Morera (Spain) took bronze in 6h04m15s, her third medal of the season. Series leader Pilar Geijo (Argentina) was fourth in 6h18m12s.
The fifth and final event of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix will take place in Italy, with a 36km crossing from Naples to Capri on 6 September.
Simon Griffiths
I created Outdoor Swimmer in 2011 (initially as H2Open Magazine) as an outlet for my passion for swimming outdoors. I've been a swimmer and outdoor swimmer for as long as I remember. Swimming has made a huge difference to my life and I want to share its joys and benefits with as many people as possible. I am also the author of Swim Wild & Free: A Practical Guide to Swimming Outdoors 365 a Year and I provide one-to-one support to swimmers through Swim Mentoring.
