Throughout sports history, great athletes have created unique athletic moves that have gone down in sporting lore.

In track-and-field, there was The Fosbury Flop. In gymnastics, there was the Thomas Flare and the Omelianchik. In boxing, there was the Rope-a-dope. In wrestling, there was the Karelin Lift.

Between 2004 and 2008, Larisa Ilchenko of Russia reigned supreme in the open water swimming world. She was undefeated as the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 world championships, always winning from behind with an uncanny ability to draft and finish off with a tremendously fast final kick. She won the 2008 Beijing Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in the same way. We called her signature finish move ‘The Ilchenko‘.

The Ilchenko is one of the few terms in the open water swimming world that is named after an individual. And what an individual she was.

If you are a sports fan who enjoys excitement, drama and uncertainty, Ilchenko was your kind of athlete. For all the world championships that she won (5 km in 2004, 5 km in 2005, 5 km and 10 km in 2006, 5 km and 10 km in 2007, 5 km and 10 km in 2008 as well as the 2008 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim), she rarely led any race.

Until the end. The very, very end.

Whether the race were 5,000 meters or 10,000 meters, it was not part of Ilchenko’s strategy to be in the lead except when it counted. She just knew how to kick into a different gear when it mattered most. She knew precisely when and how to shift gears.

On the days before race day, she was full of smiles and good cheer, but on race day, she was all business. “Yesterday, everyone was so kind and friendly – everyone was wishing each other good luck,” Ilchenko said. “Today all the smiles were wiped off. It was a fight from the first moments of the day.”

The competitive ambiance among the women was never more evident as during the 2008 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park at the Beijing Olympic Games. Characteristically, Ilchenko trailed right behind the British dual leaders of Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten who lead the field for 9,900 meters of the 10,000. But things did not go completely to plan for Ilchenko. Early in the race, American Chloe Sutton moved into her usual trailing position and later in the race, she completely missed her feeding and had to hydrate on guts and rely on her closing speed.

As the lead women came around the last turn buoy, Ilchenko was following in her familiar position. With fewer than 100 meters to go, Ilchenko moved up alongside the right side of her two British opponents. She picked the ideal straight-line tangent to the finish pontoon. As her competitors were closing in at the end of the race, Ilchenko somehow sped up with a strong 6-beat kick and faster arm tempo. She culminated her Olympic victory with a body-length lead to spare.

Fourth-place Olympic 10K Marathon Swim finisher Angela Maurer of Germany described her, “The difference between Larisa and the rest [of us] is not that she is faster, but that she swims smarter than the rest of the competitors.”

2008 Beijing Olympic Games Women’s Results:

Gold: Larisa Ilchenko (Russia) 1:59:27.7
Silver: Keri-Anne Payne (Great Britain) 1:59:29.2
Bronze: Cassandra Patten (Great Britain) 1:59:31.0
4. Angela Maurer (Germany) 1:59:31.9
5. Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil) 1:59:36.8
6. Swann Oberson (Switzerland) 1:59:36.9
7. Poliana Okimoto (Brazil) 1:59:37.4
8. Jana Pechanová (Czech Republic) 1:59:39.7
9. Andreína del Valle Pinto Pérez (Venezuela) 1:59:40.0
10. Martina Grimaldi (Italy) 1:59:40.7
11. Marianna Lymperta (Greece) 1:59:42.3
12. Teja Zupan (Slovenia) 1:59:43.7
13. Yurema Requena (Spain) 1:59:46.9
14. Edith van Dijk (Netherlands) 2:00:02.8
15. Melissa Gorman (Australia) 2:00:33.6
16. Natalie du Toit South Africa 2:00:49.9
17. Daniela Inácio (Portugal) 2:00:59.0
18. Eva Berglund (Sweden) 2:01:05.0
19. Fang Yanqiao (China) 2:01:07.9
20. Imelda Martínez (Mexico) 2:01:07.9
21. Aurelie Muller (France) 2:02:04.1
22. Chloe Sutton (United States) 2:02:13.6
23. Natalya Samorodina (Ukraine) 2:10:41.6
24. Antonella Bogarin (Argentina) 2:11:35.9
Kristel Köbrich (Chile) DNF

Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame interviewed the Russian International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer with the assistance of interpreter and Russian marathon swimmer Natalia Chuich, watch here.

© 2013 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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