After La Patagones Viedma in Argentina, the second FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup on the 2010 pro circuit, American Eva Fabian shared her thoughts on the incredibly close race in the 22°C (72°F) waters of the Río Negro River where Angela Maurer of Germany (2:03:34) just touched out Karla Šitić of Croatia (2:03:34) and Eva (2:03:35).

“The race was great, half of it was against the current since it was a river. I ended up leading a lot of the race, some of it next to the Ana Marcela Cunha. But a lot of the time, she took a different line. It was tough to judge the turns because of the current, but I was able to conserve a lot of energy by swimming near the shore when we were against the current. I picked up the pace at the 5K, then again at the 7.5K. The last 1000 meters I raced Ana Marcela, but I kept my eye on Angela because she took a better line at the turn and caught up to us. For the last 200 meters, I was neck-and-neck with Angela and Karla from Croatia, but I just misjudged my finish in the last 5 meters.”

Angela, the grande dame of professional marathon swimming, knows what it takes to close out a victory.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones