On the same course in Qatar where the world’s fastest open water swimmers competed for the remaining spots for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim (where Kristóf Rasovszky and Sharon van Rouwendaal won the 10 km races and Logan Fontaine and Sharon van Rouwendaal won the 5 km races) in early February at the 2024 World Aquatics Masters Championships, masters swimmers competed on a two-loop 3 km course.

Alisa Fatum of Germany, fresh off her multiple victories in 3-4°C water at the IISA 1st European Championship in Romania, was the fastest woman on the 3 km course in 38 minutes 10 seconds, becoming the fastest woman at the World Aquatics Masters Championships in the much warmer open water in the Old Doha Port.

Female Age Group Winner Comparisons

If we take Fatum’s winning time of 38:10.2 as the standard to be compared against, the pace of the other age group victors were as follows:

• Alisa Fatum, 25-29 and overall winner, 38:10.2
• Alexandra Raus, 30-34 winner, 39:12.7 or 2.72% slower compared to overall winner
• Viktoria Felfoldi, 35-39 winner, 39:10.1 or 2.61% slower compared to overall winner
• Sara Alfonsi, 40-44 winner, 40:46.8 or 6.83% slower compared to overall winner
• Gaia Naldini, 45-49 winner, 40:02.7 or 4.91% slower compared to overall winner
• Michela D’Amico, 50-54 winner, 42:28.1 or 11.26% slower compared to overall winner
• Eleonora Ferrando, 55-59 winner, 43:46.1 or 14.66% slower compared to overall winner
• Ellen Reynolds, 60-64 winner, 43:00.6 or 12.68% slower compared to overall winner
• Ingrid Trusler, 65-69 winner, 45:35.2 or 19.43% slower compared to overall winner
• Jane Jolly, 70-74 winner, 1:01:32.8 or 61.2% slower compared to overall winner
• Txaro Tomasena, 75-79 winner, 1:22:54.1 or 117% slower compared to overall winner

Male Age Group Winner Comparisons

If we take Jaime Marques Velasco’s winning time of 35:41.5 as the standard to be compared against, the pace of the other age group victors were as follows:

• Dmitrii Filippov, 25-29 winner in 38:18.0 or 6.8% slower compared to overall winner
• Steven Claes, 30-34 winner in 35:41.8 or 0.01% slower compared to overall winner
• Jaime Marques Velasco, 35-39 and overall winner in 35:41.5
• Ioannis Drymonakos, 40-44 winner in 35:47.9 or 0.29% slower compared to overall winner
• Nicola Nisato, 45-49 winner in 35:49.3 or 0.36% slower compared to overall winner
• Luis Pijuan Oro, 50-54 winner in 37:03.5 or 3.68% slower compared to overall winner
• Alberto Carlo Bottini, 55-59 winner in 37:34.6 or 5.01% slower compared to overall winner
• John de Mestre, 60-64 winner in 38:29.3 or 7.2% slower compared to overall winner
• Ken McMahon, 65-69 winner in 39:48.1 or 10.32% slower compared to overall winner
• Steve Prescott, 70-74 winner in 47:20.7 or 24.6% slower compared to overall winner
• Jean-Claude Lestideau, 75-79 winner in 54:25.3 or 34.41% slower compared to overall winner
• Cyril Baldock, 80-84 winner in 57:18.5 or 37.71% slower compared to overall winner
• David Cumming, 85-89 winner in 1:16:30.5 or 53.34% slower compared to overall winner

Relative Differences between the Male and Female Age Group Winners

It is interesting to note the differences between the male and female results of the different age group winners. Whether these differences are unique to this 3 km competition or true across the globe of open water swims or only true in short-distance open water swims as compared to marathon swims has yet been analyzed.

• The differences between age group winners among men between the ages of 25 and 60 is remarkably narrow and much more narrow than women between the ages of 26 and 60.
• The differences between age group winners among men between the ages of 30 and 49 is incredibly narrow that is somewhat mirrored among women of the same age range.
• Both among women and men, the speed of the age group winners over the age of 70 slows considerably compared to those in their 50’s and 60’s.
• Speed again slows considerably in both genders as the age of 80 is approached by women and men in their 80’s.

We would love to work with experienced statisticians, social scientists, and longevity experts in the swimming world to better understand these differences in performance among the various age group winners and swimmers in general.

https://youtu.be/9PfHWueT2YY

25-29 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Alisa Fatum, Germany 38:10.2
2. Hilal Zeyneb Sarac, Turkey 38:14.3
3. Sara Gabler, Germany 39:10.5
4. Zeynep Balto, Turkey 39:22.8
5. Nadine Lehmann, Germany 43:36.9

30-34 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Alexandra Raus, Austria 39:12.7
2. Ana Carolina Morelli, Brazil 39:17.3
3. Hannah Elizabeth Dodwell, Great Britain 39:18.1
4. Giulia Brenda, Italy 39:43.6
5. Sonia Toscani, Italy 41:59.1

35-39 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Viktoria Felfoldi, Hungary 39:10.1
2. Vesna Shelnutt, USA 39:24.8
3. Alessandra Biscotti, Italy 39:24.9
4. Sarra Lajnef, UAE 41:47.6
5. Ann Kristin Neuloh-Stein, Germany 42:44.0

40-44 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Sara Alfonsi, Italy 40:46.8
2. Carla Beckmann, Germany 41:44.1
3. Sabina Martinez Leon, Spain 41:51.4
4. Tiffany Hashiba, Brazil 45:51.7
5. Isora Sosa, Qatar 46:04.5

45-49 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Gaia Naldini, Italy 40:02.7
2. Ildiko Szekely, USA 40:53.7
3. Belinda Bullivant, Australia 41:51.2
4. Francesca Bonacci, Italy 42:59.4
5. Stephanie Deschamps, Canada 46:51.3

50-54 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Michela D’Amico, Italy 42:28.1
2. Silvia Canazza, Italy 43:47.2
3. Diana Duque Correa, Paraguay 44:24.0
4. Laura Palasciano, Italy 44:34.3
5. Marta Vila Fortuny, Spain 44:39.8

55-59 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Eleonora Ferrando, Italy 43:46.1
2. Ina Ziegler, Germany 44:33.7
3. Cristina Vallespi Sune, Spain 45:07.8
4. Gloria Daners Chao, Uruguay 46:41.9
5. Sheryl Slater, Hong Kong 47:40.3

60-64 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Ellen Reynolds, USA 43:00.6
2. Nuala Muir-Cochrane, Great Britain 47:58.5
3. Car Van Bassen Jongbloet, South Africa 49:58.9
4. Elena Sidorkova, NIA 50:24.6
5. Nicoletta Pollicardo, Italy 52:04.5

65-69 Women’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Ingrid Trusler, South Africa 45:35.2
2. Cristina Tarantino, Italy 47:59.0
3. Barbara Kutschbach, Austria 49:59.5
4. Verity Dobbie, Great Britain 52:57.3
5. Arancha Aranega, Spain 53:00.6

70-74 Women’s 3 km Top Four Results

1. Jane Jolly, Ireland 1:01:32.8
2. Sabine Morche-Bloch, Germany 1:05:17.0
3. Lihua Guo, China 1:06:41.8
4. Xiyuan Wang, China 1:27:40.3

75-79 Women’s 3 km Results

1. Txaro Tomasena, Spain 1:22:54.1

NIA denotes Russian or Belarusian athletes.

Scatter Plots designed by marathon swimmer, biostatistician, and FINIS ambassador Melodee Liegl.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“