The heavyweights of the ice swimming world visited Oradea, Romania for the IISA 1st European Championship and none other than the 2012 Olympian and current English Channel record holder Andreas Waschburger of Germany repeated another world record performance on Day 2 with a remarkable world record time of 11:24.20 in the 1000m freestyle final.

Just like Day 1’s world record performance in the 500m freestyle, the 36-year-old German was pushed by Polish swimmer Marcin Szarpak of Poland who finished second in 11:38.84 in the 100. Waschburger broke Szarpak’s existing world record of 11:31.53. Axel Reymond was not too far behind in 11:43.76, finishing third just as he did in the 500m freestyle.

Freestyle Rivalry Continued

Two long-time veterans of the elite pool swimming competition, the professional marathon swimming circuit, the Olympics, the English Channel, and Ice Miles, Rostislav Vítek of the Czech Republic and Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria, also competed placing fourth and fifth respectively. There may not be too many distance freestylers in history who have competed against each other in so many venues and in so varied elite competitions as have Vítek and Stoychev.

Their aquatic rivalry makes sense for two swimmers who love personal challenges, distance freestyle, and intense competitions. Unlike pool sprinters who can race the 50m, 100m, and 200m races in the pool as well as participate in 50m, 100m, and 200m relays, distance freestylers like Vítek and Stoychev usually only have the 800m and 1500m races to compete in the pool. With so few opportunities to compete in the pool unlike sprinters, Vítek and Stoychev are always excited to add new events whether it is in a lake, channel, ocean, bay, or the cold 3.9°C water in Oradea, Romania.

World Record Year for Waschburger

Olympian (8th in the 10K in 2012). Skydiver. Professional marathon swimmer. English Channel record holder. And now a two-time International Ice Swimming Association world record holder in the Ice. He has one more opportunity to go three-for-three today in an attempt to set another world record in the 250m freestyle, on this final day of competition in Oradea, Romania.

1000m Freestyle Results

1. Andreas Waschburger (37) 11:24.20
2. Marcin Szarpak (23) 11:38.84
3. Axel Reymond (30) 11:43.76
4. Rostislav Vitek (48) 12:43.61
5. Petar Stoychev (48) 13:08.69
6. James Leitch (49) 13:09.96
7. Phillip Duma (43) 13:10.11
8. Mateusz Pawlica (19) 13:40.29
9. Marek Rother (56) 13:41.09
10. Vincent Leblond (38) 13:52.62
11. Ori Sela (51) 14:21.24
12. Stefan Runge (57) 14:38.37
13. Alex Rossi (48) 14:49.50
14. Peter Plavec (37) 14:50.68
15. Bogdan Cosmin Zurbagiu (38) 14:58.25
16. Henry Lykke Stokholm (55) 14:58.57
17. Libor Stedron (58) 15:05.25
18. Viktor Dluhos (30) 15:12.67
19. Richard Nyary (48) 15:15.73
20. Simon Zdarsky (31) 15:20.19
21. Alexander Schilder (33) 15:25.24
22. Guillaume Le Loher (26) 15:25.80
23. Marc Thievent (44) 15:31.58
24. Brian Bain (64) 15:50.45
25. Nicholas Murch (45) 15:51.91
26. Kevin mcHugh (41) 16:05.68
27. Robillot François (54) 16:10.24
28. Federico Miot (47) 16:37.20
29. Albert Stienezen (59) 16:40.07
30. Przemyslaw Konieczniak (29) 16:44.72
31. Kevin Audouy (28) 16:53.71
32. Florin Tomos (41) 16:55.85
33. Marcin Schabowski (37) 17:02.56
34. Dezider Pék (51) 17:27.85
35. Michal Bartal (40) 17:57.99
36. Josef Köberl (47) 18:07.04
37. Matyas Kavan (51) 18:17.46
38. Fatih Iscener (57) 18:19.00
39. Brian Swift (55) 18:47.47
40. Frank Hallissey (43) 18:47.65
41. Andrei David (47) 19:02.51
42. Paul White (60) 19:06.49
43. Christian Carlie (50) 19:20.88
44. Charalampos Theodosis (48) 19:41.53
45. Alan Gleeson (57) 19:42.96
46. Ludovic Charfaz (48) 20:21.44
47. Simone Olivi (57) 20:29.45
48. Brian Dillon (55) 20:40.64
49. Christoph Sivich (48) 20:56.03
50. William van Overveld (60) 21:09.11
51. Martin Shannon (52) 21:29.81
52. Theo van der Meer (59) 21:31.31
53. Jonathan Coe (72) 21:47.10
54. Maxime Valabregue (57) 26:26.96

The Championships conclude today on February 4th.

320 swimmers from 27 countries including Albania, Cyprus, Great Britain, Lithuania, Portugal, Turkey, Andorra. Czech Republic. Greece, Luxembourg, Romania, Ukraine, Armenia, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, Russia, Austria, Estonia, Iceland, Moldova, San Marino, Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands, Ireland, Monaco, Serbia, Belarus, Finland, Israel, Montenegro, Slovakia, Belgium, France, Italy, Isle of Man, Netherlands, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Sweden, Croatia, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Poland, and Switzerland will take part.

Race Day 1 on February 2nd 2024

• 500m freestyle
• 50m butterfly
• 100m backstroke
• 50m breaststroke
• 4x50m mixed freestyle relay
• 500m freestyle

Race Day 2 on February 3rd 2024

• 1000m freestyle
• 100m freestyle
• 100m breaststroke
• 4x50m VIP relay

Race Day 3 on February 4th 2024

• 250m freestyle
• 50m backstroke
• 100m butterfly
• 50m freestyle
• 4x250m country relay freestyle

With the water temperature at 4°C, all the events will be streamed live on the IISA YouTube TV channel (watch here).

For more information, visit here.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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