Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

After the successes of the inaugural Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the follow-up success in the Serpentine at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the marathon swim is coming to Copacabana Beach for the 2012 Rio Olympics.

Former professional marathon swimmer and English Channel swimmer Christiane Fanzeres is the Marathon Swimming Technical Operations Manager for the Rio Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It will be the first time that a woman has held this position.

The standard was first set by the Chinese and since elevated by the work of Colin Hill and his colleagues in London. The planning of the 2-hour race takes about 2 years.

The Brazilian national open water swimming team – ranked Number One in the world – and the rest of the open water swimming community is pulling for Fanzeres to pull off another stunning marathon swimming event at the Olympics.

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