Traversée From South Korea To Québec, Canada

Courtesy of Aimee Berg, Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean, Canada.

Kristóf Rasovszky, Rachele Bruni and Anna Olasz are among a handful of athletes who traveled from Gwangju, South Korea where they competed in the FINA World Championships to Quebec, Canada – over 13 time zones – to race in the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean 10 km race on the FINA Marathon Swim World Series.

Rasovszky and Bruni both qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 10 km race – the distance they will compete in tomorrow in lac St-Jean.

Rasovszky will face Fernando Ponte of Brazil and Marcel Schouten of the Netherlands among others.  Schouten is the defending champion, “Every race is a new race. 

You have to stay easy and relaxed. I have to do my own thing and see where we finish.”

Rasovszky was on a roll in South Korea, winning the 5 km world title, then qualifying for the 2020 Olympics with a fourth place finish in the 10 km race (less than 4 seconds from gold), and then helping Hungary finish eighth in the 5 km Team Relay until he fell ill during the 25 km race on the last day.

The 27-year-old Ponte finished second to Schouten last year in the lac St-Jean race and finished 26th in the 5 km at the world championships.

On the women’s side, Bruni may be tough to beat despite traveling over 10,500 kilometers to get to Quebec.  The 2016 silver medalist finished third

25-year-old Olasz, like her Hungarian teammate Rasovszky, also swam all four events in South Korea: 6th in the 25 km race, 17th in the 5 km race, 16th in the 10 km race, and 8th in the Team Relay.

16 Canadians will compete in the 10 km race expected to be in 20°C water – so wetsuits will not be allowed on the six-loop course.

Men’s Start List

1. Damian Blaum, Argentina
2. Christopher Deegan, Australia
3. Alexandre Finco, Brazil
4. Fernando Ponte, Brazil
5. Fares Zitouni, France
6. Kristof Rasovszky, Hungary
7. Matteo Furlan, Italy
8. Dario Verani, Italy
9. Evgenij Pop Acev, Macedonia
10. Lars Bottelier, Netherlands
11. Marcel Schouten, Netherlands
12. Solomon Wright, New Zealand
13. Edouard Belanger, Canada
14. Maxime Gagnon, Canada
15. Nicolas Masse-Savard, Canada
16. Samuel Matte, Canada
17. Ryley Mcrae, Canada
18. Ethan Phillips, Canada
19. David Pouliot, Canada

Women’s Start List:

1. Morgane Dornic, France
2. Caroline Jouisse, France
3. Anna Olasz, Hungary
4. Rachele Bruni, Italy
5. Dania Belisle, Canada
6. Elise Bolger, Canada
7. Alexandra Bougie, Canada
8. Mia Desjarlais, Canada
9. Stephanie Horner, Canada
10. Gabrielle Savard, Canada
11. Kenna Smallegange, Canada
12. Andrea Terriault, Canada
13. Heidi Ullrich, Canada

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