At the head of the pack on the next stage of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit, it is going to be quite a chess match where the top competitors will be aiming to outswim and outwit each other.

Italy’s Simone Ercoli will go up against a trio of his marathon swimming rivals from Argentina, Guillermo Bertola, Damian Blaum, and Luciano Sales Rubio, in Cozumel tomorrow.

The quartet of ultra-marathon swimmers will undoubtedly go stroke-for-stroke throughout the 15 km FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix event, but Christian Reichert of Germany may set the pace and push the field to a fast pace off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. Drafting and positioning, fading and veering, bluffing and surging, the German, Italian and Argentine threesome will undoubtedly battle all 15 kilometers.

The current rankings on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit are as follows:

1. Simone Ercoli (ITA) 30
2. Guillermo Bertola (ARG) 26
3. Damian Blaum (ARG) 25
4. Luciano Sales Rubio (ARG) 22
5. Mohammad Saleh (SYR) 16
6. Edoardo Stochino (ITA) 13
6. Evgenij Pop Acev (MKD) 13
8. Gabriel Villagoiz (ARG) 12
9. Mario Sanzullo (ITA) 11
10 Ivan Afanevich (RUS) 11
11 Tsvetan Yordanov (BUL) 6
11. Tomi Stefanovski (MKD) 6
13. Andrea Volpini (ITA) 5
14. Dejan Mladenovski (MKD) 4
15. Luis Bolaños (VEN) 2
15. Angel Moreira (VEN) 2
15. Aquiles Balaudo (ARG) 2
15. Jeremias Muños (ARG) 2
15. Tiago Sato (BRA) 2
15. Libor Smolka (CZE) 2
15. Martin Carrizo (ARG) 2
15. Bruno Lemaire (ARG) 2
15. Mauricio Gatica (ARG) 2
15. Fausto Brondo (ARG) 2
15. Fernando Ciaramella (ARG) 2
15. Samir Botelho Barel (BRA) 2

Aerial photograph courtesy of Fly Me Cancun.

Copyright © 2013 by World Open Water Swimming Association