29-year-old world record holder Ludivine Blanc of France (@_ludivineblanc) won the opening event at the IISA 6th World Championship in Molveno, Italy on Day One.
She started off strong in her signature stroke and held off young 17-year-old Maria Nielsen of Denmark and Heidi Winter of New Zealand.
100m Backstroke Final Heat
- Ludivine Blanc (France, 29, IISA bio here) 1:12.92
- Maria Nielsen (Denmark, 17, IISA bio here) 1:15.58
- Heidi Winter (New Zealand, IISA bio here) 1:16.42
- Ezmee Jones (USA, 17, IISA bio here) 1:16.66
- Simona Andreea Chirus (Romania, 19, IISA bio here) 1:18.83
- Natascha Hebestreit (Italy, 41, IISA bio here) 1:21.14
- Caitlin Rees (Scotland, 29, IISA bio here) 1:21.92
- Jessika Robson (Ireland, 18, IISA bio here) DNS [note: she finished 3rd in the 500m freestyle that was the next event]
To say it is cold is clearly an understatement with the night air temperature at -1.1°C and the fresh water in the pool at 2.0°C where the ice shards need to be removed from the pool before the swimmers can compete. But that is not stopping the 754 athletes representing 48 countries around the world from enjoying the uplifting vibes and challenging themselves at the world championship.
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