Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Professional marathon swimmers from around the world have converged in Argentina this week for the first races of the 2017 FINA/HOSA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup series and the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix series.
While the La Patagones Viedma showcases the 2016 Olympics silver (Rachele Bruni, see below) and bronze medalist (Poliana Okimoto), the 57 km Maratón Acuática Santa Fe-Coronda showcases ultra marathon swimmers.
La Patagones Viedma will see 18 men and 20 women race in the Rio Negro on February 4th with swimmers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Portugal, and Uruguay. Both the men’s and women’s World Cup series winners in 2016 – Simone Ruffini and Rachele Bruni – will return to defend their titles.
“It is great to also see Ana Marcela Cunha return after all her medical issues last year,” says Steven Munatones. “She is one tough young lady, ready for another quadrennial of representing Brazil around the world together with her rival and teammate Poliana Okimoto. We fully expect those two to represent Brazil again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”
The total prize money for the men’s and women’s series winners is US$180,000 with US$20,000 up for grabs in Viedma.
FINA/HOSA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup 2017
1st Race: La Patagones Viedma (Argentina) on February 4th
2nd Race: Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) on March 11th
3rd Race: Setúbal Bay International Swim Marathon (Portugal) on June 24th
4th Race: Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean (Canada) on July 27th
5th Race: Traversee international du Lac Mégantic (Canada) on August 12th
6th Race: Chun’An (China) on October 15th
7th Race: Hong Kong on October 21st
The day before the 10 km race, a mass participation race of the FINA Open Water Swim World Events will be organized on February 3rd by Prof. Omar Osvaldo Floridia-Acuña Fernando [see here].
The day after the Viedma race, the FINA Open Water Grand Prix will kick-off with its first competition in Santa Fe – Coronda on Sunday, February 5th.
FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix 2017
1st Race: 57 km Santa Fe Coronda (Argentina), locally called Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe – Coronda on February 5th
2nd Race: 32 km Lac St Jean (Canada), locally called Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean on July 29th
3rd Race: 33 km Ohrid Lake (Macedonia), locally called Ohrid Lake Swim Marathon on August 19th
4th Race: 36 km Capri-Napoli (Italy), locally called Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli on September 3rd
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