Courtesy of FINA, Doha, Qatar.
A pair of 14-year-olds – Mira Szimcsak of Hungary and Hsin-Yi Fang of Taiwan – are going to mix it up with 43-year-old Olympian Angela Maurer of Germany and the world’s fastest open water swimmers in Doha Bay, Qatar.
The 2019 FINA Marathon Swim World Series kicks off this Saturday, February 16th in Doha Bay, Qatar.
The event is live streamed on FINAtv with the women’s race at 9:00am (GMT+3) and the men’s race at starting at 1:00pm (GMT+3) along Doha’s stunning Corniche, a 7 km-long waterfront promenade.
The water temperature in the bay is 20.5°C with the air temperature hovering around 23°C.
Khaleel Al-Jabir, President Qatar Swimming Association and host of the event, said, “This year is an important race as it is good preparation for the FINA World Championships. We are very pleased with the growth in the numbers for this elite race on the Corniche and we are looking forward for the race to start and we wish all the athletes good luck.
This is a good step for us as Qatar will host the FINA World Championships in 2023 so this helps us prepare towards 2023 and work closely with FINA. We have a lot of local Qatar swimmers, although they are still relatively young at 16 and 17 to be competing against world-class athletes such as Sharon Van Rouwendaal and Simone Ruffini, but it is great experience for them and we are expecting a lot for the future.“
25-year-old defending champion and Olympic gold medalist Sharon van Rouwendaal said, “Conditions are looking really good, I like the water temperature, the course is excellent like last year and it’s good to be back in Doha. Last year I won this race and I think that I’m feeling really strong, but the other girls will be strong as well. As it’s a qualifying event for some teams, the teams will be strong. It depends on how I feel on the day what my tactics will be, with large numbers you will have to watch what others do and watch out for any breaks in the pack.”
Simone Ruffini, shown on left, said, “I’m really happy to be here in Doha. I’m feeling strong for this race and as this is a qualifying event for the Italian team for the World Champs, this is very important to me. I’m also happy that there are lots of swimmers in this race.”
Competitors:
1 Haley Anderson, USA
2 Angelica Andre, Portugal
3 Kalliopi Araouzou, Greece
4 Samantha Arevalo, Ecuador
5 Leonie Beck, Germany
6 Sarah Bosslet, Germany
7 Lea Boy, Germany
8 Mackenzie Brazier, Australia
9 Arianna Bridi, Italy
10 Rachele Bruni, Italy
11 Katy Campbell, USA
12 Ana Marcela Cunha, Brazil
13 Martina de Memme, Italy
14 Maria de Valdes Alvarez, Spain
15 Alice Dearing, Great Britain
16 Mariah Denigan, USA
17 Fuwei Dong, China
18 Hsin-Yi Fang, Taiwan
19 Alice Franco, Italy
20 Giulia Gabbrielleschi, Italy
21 Carla Goyanes Garcia, Spain
22 Chelsea Gubecka, Australia
23 Chloe Gubecka, Australia
24 Polly Isabella Holden, Great Britain
25 Yawen Hou, China
26 Danielle Huskisson, Great Britain
27 Viviane Jungblut, Brazil
28 Kareena Lee, Australia
29 Becca Mann, USA
30 Angela Maurer, Germany
31 Hannah Moore, USA
32 Yukimi Moriyama, Japan
33 Minami Niikura, Japan
34 Anna Olasz, Hungary
35 Krystyna Panchishko, Ukraine
36 Reka Rohacs, Hungary
37 Paula Ruiz, Spain
38 Onon Katalin Somenek, Hungary
39 Jeannette Spiwoks, Germany
40 Erica Sullivan, USA
41 Aleyna Nur Sungur, Turkey
42 Mira Szimcsak, Hungary
43 Muran Tian, China
44 Chase Travis, USA
45 Ashley Twichell, USA
46 Sharon van Rouwendaal, Netherlands
47 Luca Vas, Hungary
48 Esmee Vermeulen, Netherlands
49 Yi-Chen Wang, Taiwan
50 Jordan White, Australia
51 Finnia Wunram, Germany
52 Xin Xin, China
Copyright © 2008-2019 by World Open Water Swimming Association