Christof Wandratsch Shows Speed & Stamina At Amstel Ice Swim
Photos of the fast 500m heat is courtesy of Kate Steels . Results are courtesy of Christa Hesterman-van Beers, Roeicentrum Berlagebrug, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Germany’s Christof Wandratsch never used to like or perform well in cold water when he was a professional marathon swimmer in the 1990s.
But times change as Wandratsch has well-deservedly become an icon in ice swimming. The transformation to a truly hardened athlete is complete.
On the last weekend of 2019, Wandratsch showed mettle, speed and stamina of world-class levels at the Amstel Ice Swim on December 28th – 29th at the Roeicentrum Berlagebrug, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The German won the 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 500m freestyle, and Ice Kilometer races beating his much younger rivals, including Fergil Hesterman in the Ice Kilometer and Ice Kilometer world record holder Sven Elfferich in the 500m freestyle, and Raymond Oosterbaan in the 100m and 200m freestyles.
Ice Kilometer Results:
1 Christof Wandratsch (Germany) 15:39.96
2 Fergil Hesterman (Netherlands) 16:02.88
3 Marcus Reineke (Germany) 17:25.43
4 Thorsten Ullrich-Stegemann (Germany) 17:44.76
5 Alex Schilder (Netherlands) 18:44.92
6 Albert Stienezen (Netherlands) 19:47.43
7 Martin Kuchenmeister (Austria) 20:13.96
8 Florian Battermann (Germany) 20:29.66
9 Lapo Sarfatti (Italy) 21:30.92
10 Peter Bond (Netherlands) 22:10.23
11 Dr. Alexandre Fuzeau (France) 23:11.07
12 Götz Paschen (Germany) 23:59.29
13 Chris Laubscher (South Africa) 24:11.01
14 Itamar Nitzan (Great Britain) 28:25.48
15 Hanc de Bokx (Netherlands) DNF
500m Freestyle Results:
1 Christof Wandratsch (Germany) 7:37.80
2 Sven Elfferich (Netherlands) 7:54.42
3 Fergil Hesterman (Netherlands) 7:58.41
4 Rory Fitzgerald (UK) 8:21.56
5 Thorsten Ullrich-Stegemann (Germany) 8:57.13
6 Lars Mack 9:04.92
7 Tobias Prüßner 9:13.72
8 Albert Stienezen 9:25.56
9 Alex Schilder 9:35.20
10 Martin Kuchenmeister 9:44.35
11 Florian Battermann 9:46.90
12 Louis van Walsem 10:33.92
13 Götz Paschen 11:10.46
14 Theo van der Meer 11:21.27
15 Alexander Docter 11:32.20
16 Philippe Oudot 12:56.32
17 Jan Willem Zuilhof 13:04.89
18 Jonty Warneken 13:40.74
19 Luciano Santambrogio 13:56.38
20 Kjeld de Ruyter 14:04.19
21 Michael Smith 14:09.34
22 Gary Scott-Lloyd 16:10.01
23 Louis PELERIN 16:25.04
24 Piet Muilwijk 17:30.92
25 Philippe Kuc 18:18.19
200m Freestyle Results:
1 Christof Wandratsch (Germany) 2:46.39
2 Raymond Oosterbaan (Netherlands) 2:58.15
3 Lars Mack 3:06.85
4 Paul Bieber 3:10.55
5 Frank Boot 3:11.84
6 Marcus Reineke 3:14.31
7 Alex Schilder 3:16.35
8 Louis van Walsem 3:55.03
9 Sandro A D Schutte 4:04.19
10 Michiel Vervoort 4:07.55
11 Philippe Oudot 4:38.09
12 Jean Pierre Vanderydt 4:49.62
13 Kjeld de Ruyter 5:05.68
14 Jonty Warneken 5:07.80
15 Luciano Santambrogio 5:18.22
16 Nick Verhoeven 5:20.28
17 Marcello Giunta 5:39.38
18 Ronald Elfferich 5:40.03
19 Carlo Pappot 5:42.12
20 Louis Pelerin 6:36.94
21 Gary Scott-Lloyd 6:48.54
22 Philippe Kuc 7:03.38
23 Paul Bygrave DNF
100m Freestyle Results:
1 Christof Wandratsch (Germany) 1:19.80
2 Raymond Oosterbaan (Netherlands) 1:23.00
3 Frank Boot 1:26.72
4 Roland van den Enden 1:28.97
5 Lars Mack 1:29.50
6 Tobias Prüßner 1:29.54
7 Alex Schilder 1:34.00
8 Bjorn Water 1:37.13
9 Piotr Czyz 1:37.76
10 Paul Bieber 1:44.53
11 Tom Voûte 1:54.89
12 Luciano Santambrogio 1:59.98
13 Max Garaffa 2:10.59
14 Lucas de Jong 2:29.94
15 Addy Lont 2:42.64
16 Wiebe de Wolf 2:45.91
17 Paul Bygrave 4:17.46
50m Freestyle Results:
1 Robbert-Jan Bree 29.80
2 Tobias Prüßner 30.57
3 Raymond Oosterbaan 31.04
4 Frank Boot 31.13
5 Paul Bieber 31.80
6 Christof Wandratsch 32.02
7 Lars Mack 32.76
8 Paul Bree 33.51
9 Florian Battermann 36.73
10 Marcello Giunta 39.18
11 Niels van Gijsel 55.37
For more information on the Amstel Ice Swim, visit here.
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