A few months ago, Logan Fontaine swam a 3:46.60 in the 400m freestyle at the French Elite Championships. The 24-year-old utilized that well-developed pool speed at this week’s World Aquatics Championships in both the 10 km and especially today’s 5 km open water race.

Fontaine just barely touched out his more celebrated teammate Marc-Antoine Olivier, 51:29.30 to 51:29.60 in a mad finish among the top pack. That 1-2 French finish in the 5 km sets up all kinds of potential scenarios for the upcoming Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The two Frenchman have to be considered podium favorites as they swim in front of their home crowd in the Seine.

It will be quite a race in Paris – but let’s enjoy today’s race that showed off how exciting, maddingly close, and totally unpredictable open water swimming races can be.

Behind the scenes, there are many unseen issues to consider when guessing the podium favorites going into the 2024 Paris Olympics 10 km marathon swim:

• Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy skipped the 10 km race at these Championships and did not previous qualify for the Olympic 10 km marathon swim, but Italy holds two NOC quota spots in Paris. Will Paltrinieri, a 2016 gold medalist in the 1500m and the 2020 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim bronze medalist sit on the banks of the Seine – or will the Italian Swimming Federation grant him one of the two coveted Italian spots? His participation – or not – will greatly influence the race as Paltrinieri swims aggressively and is not afraid to swim hard for the entire 10 km distance.
• Hector Pardoe of Great Britain did not swim the 5 km, but he finished 3rd in the 10 km on Sunday. He had a DNF at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but his hunger for a podium position is palpable and he is well positioned for a podium finish in Paris.
• Kristóf Rasovszky of Hungary finished 4th in the 5 km and 1st in the 10 km. He has been swimming very well most consistently over this quadrennial. With a strategic race in the Seine against defending Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock, he could become the second Hungarian marathon swimming gold medalist after Éva Risztov in 2012.
• Domenico Acerenza of Italy finished 3rd in the 5 km and 7th in 10 km. He always finds himself in the top pack going into the finish chute, and he has the very real potential to pull out a podium finish if he just positions himself ideally during key points in the race in Paris.
• David Betlehem of Hungary finished 6th in the 5 km and 6th in 10 km. The youngest of the top echelon of swimmers is ready for a breakout swim of major proportions and, like Acerenza, if he can position himself well in a few key locations during the Olympic race – perhaps going in or out of the feeding station or around a turn buoy, that small change can lead to podium finish.
• Athanasios Kynigakis of Greece finished 7th in the 5 km and 13th in 10 km. Similar to Acerenza and Betlehem, he has the physiology to win a medal and a podium finish will come down to being in the right position at the right time at critical times during the race.
• Oliver Klemet of Germany finished 8th in the 5 km and 11th in 10 km, both lower finishes than expected. But like his German teammate, expect the 21-year-old to be in peak condition on August 9th in the Seine.
• Florian Wellbrock of Germany finished 9th in the 5 km and 29th in 10 km, both totally uncharacteristic of the typically fastest man in the open water – but he could have not tapered, rested, or shaved, or just been under the weather. Expect none of those conditions in Paris where the powerful 26-year-old is still considered the gold medal favorite.
• Australian swimmers Nicholas Sloman and Kyle Lee were both absent from the 5 km, but they will undoubtedly be in the top pack in Paris.

World 5 km Championship Men’s Results (top 25)

1. Logan Fontaine, France 51:29.30 (4th in 10 km)
2. Marc-Antoine Olivier, France 51:29.60 (2nd in 10 km)
3. Domenico Acerenza, Italy 51:30.00 (7th in 10 km)
4. Kristóf Rasovszky, Hungary 51:30.50 (1st in 10 km)
5. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy 51:31.70 (DNS in 10 km)
6. David Betlehem, Hungary 51:34.80 (6th in 10 km)
7. Athanasios Kynigakis, Greece 51:36.10 (13th in 10 km)
8. Oliver Klemet, Germany 51:36.40 (11th in 10 km)
9. Florian Wellbrock, Germany 51:36.70 (29th in 10 km)
10. Paulo Strehlke Delgado, Mexico 51:36.80 (18th in 10 km)
11. Eric Hedlin, Canada 51:39.10 (31st in 10 km)
12. David Farinango, Ecuador 51:40.40 (12th in 10 km)
13. Cheng-Chi Cho, Taipei 51:48.10 (28th in 10 km)
14. Piotr Wozniak, Poland 51:56.50 (20th in 10 km)
15. Martin Straka, Czech Republic 51:56.90 (17th in 10 km)
16. Robert George Thorpe, Australia 51:59.10 (DNS in 10 km)
17. Tiago Campos, Portugal 53:19.40 (23rd in 10 km)
18. Emir Batur Albayrak, Turkey 53:20.70 (27th in 10 km)
19. Christian Schreiber, Switzerland 53:22.00 (42nd in 10 km)
20. Esteban Enderica Salgado Ecuador 53:22.10 (22nd in 10 km)
21. Guillem Pujol, Spain 53:22.20 (24th in 10 km)
22. Logan Vanhuys, Belgium 53:23.40 (33rd in 10 km)
23. Bailey Armstrong, Australia 53:23.50 (DNS in 10 km)
24. Joshua Brown, USA 53:23.90 (DNS in 10 km)
25. Jan Hercog, Austria 53:24.00 (16th in 10 km)

For more information, visit www.worldaquatics-doha2024.com.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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