Italy Goes 1-2 In Lac Mégantic
Courtesy of Aimee Berg, FINA, lac Mégantic, Canada.
Arianna Bridi of Italy won the most recent FINA/CNSG Marathon Swim World Series event at the Traversée internationale du lac Mégantic over Italian teammate Rachele Bruni and Anna Olasz of Hungary.
Unlike all the other races on the World Series circuit, the lac Mégantic course is a point-to-point crossing.
The two groups of male and female swimmers were accompanied by a flotilla of 36 support boats and 35 additional vessels for safety personnel, officials, and media.
In 2017 and 2018, Bridi finished second in this same race, but she used surges throughout the race to pull off her victory. “I tried to increase the speed three or five times,” said Bridi who missed making the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after finishing 13th at the recent FINA World Championships.
“Increase and slow down, then make a move 1500 meters before the finish and the waves were with us. I had a terrible world championship. I didn’t qualify for the Olympics, so now I want to improve my experience so I have to do a lot of races, change my tactics, and learn to fight.”
Bruni, who did qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics had won the last World Series race in lac St-Jean 13 days ago. Bruni said, “It was a very beautiful race, more difficult because there were no buoys. For me, to have a perfect swim, I need the buoys. The buoys are very good for me.”
Third-place Anna Olasz said, “The race was a little more aggressive than I expected, more fighting, but I knew it was going to be come down to a sprint between the two Italians and me. I was expecting it to be choppy, but the waves were bigger than I expected. In the last 1500, I felt good and tried to pass Rachele [Bruni] but I didn’t really have the speed in the end. I still gave them a run for their money.”
The three remaining races on the World Series circuit include Ohrid, Macedonia on August 28th, Chinese Taipei on September 7th, and Chun’An, China on September 29th.
Results from FINA/CNSG 10km Marathon Swim World Series in Lac Mégantic:
1. Arianna Bridi (Italy) 2:24:30.0
2. Rachele Bruni (Italy) 2:24:32.6
3. Anna Olasz (Hungary) 2:24:34.5
4. Caroline Jouisse (France) 2:25:10.1
5. Stephanie Horner (Canada) 2:25:40.9
6. Andrea Terriault (Canada) 2:25:47.40
7. Paula Ruiz (Spain) 2:28:18.40
8. Aricia Peree (Brazil) 2:36:44.10
9. Heidi Ullrich (Canada) 2:37:21.60
10. Mia Desjarlais (Canada) 2:37:53.20
11. Julia Nina (Brazil) 2:39:45.90
12. Sandra Frimerman-Bergquist (USA) 2:47:02.40
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