On the same course in Qatar where the world’s fastest open water swimmers competed for the remaining spots for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim (where Kristóf Rasovszky and Sharon van Rouwendaal won the 10 km races and Logan Fontaine and Sharon van Rouwendaal won the 5 km races) in early February at the 2024 World Aquatics Masters Championships, masters swimmers competed on a two-loop 3 km course.

Jaime Marques Velasco, an established masters swimming star from Spain [shown below], was the fastest man on the 3 km course in 35 minutes 41.5 seconds at the 2024 World Aquatics Masters Championships at the Old Doha Port.

Male Age Group Winner Comparisons

If we take Jaime Marques Velasco’s winning time of 35:41.5 as the standard to be compared against, the pace of the other age group victors were as follows:

• Dmitrii Filippov, 25-29 winner in 38:18.0 or 6.8% slower compared to overall winner
• Steven Claes, 30-34 winner in 35:41.8 or 0.01% slower compared to overall winner
• Jaime Marques Velasco, 35-39 and overall winner in 35:41.5
• Ioannis Drymonakos, 40-44 winner in 35:47.9 or 0.29% slower compared to overall winner
• Nicola Nisato, 45-49 winner in 35:49.3 or 0.36% slower compared to overall winner
• Luis Pijuan Oro, 50-54 winner in 37:03.5 or 3.68% slower compared to overall winner
• Alberto Carlo Bottini, 55-59 winner in 37:34.6 or 5.01% slower compared to overall winner
• John de Mestre, 60-64 winner in 38:29.3 or 7.2% slower compared to overall winner
• Ken McMahon, 65-69 winner in 39:48.1 or 10.32% slower compared to overall winner
• Steve Prescott, 70-74 winner in 47:20.7 or 24.6% slower compared to overall winner
• Jean-Claude Lestideau, 75-79 winner in 54:25.3 or 34.41% slower compared to overall winner
• Cyril Baldock, 80-84 winner in 57:18.5 or 37.71% slower compared to overall winner
• David Cumming, 85-89 winner in 1:16:30.5 or 53.34% slower compared to overall winner

Female Age Group Winner Comparisons

If we take Alisa Fatum’s winning time of 38:10.2 as the standard to be compared against, the pace of the other age group victors were as follows:

• Alisa Fatum, 25-29 and overall winner, 38:10.2
• Alexandra Raus, 30-34 winner, 39:12.7 or 2.72% slower compared to overall winner
• Viktoria Felfoldi, 35-39 winner, 39:10.1 or 2.61% slower compared to overall winner
• Sara Alfonsi, 40-44 winner, 40:46.8 or 6.83% slower compared to overall winner
• Gaia Naldini, 45-49 winner, 40:02.7 or 4.91% slower compared to overall winner
• Michela D’Amico, 50-54 winner, 42:28.1 or 11.26% slower compared to overall winner
• Eleonora Ferrando, 55-59 winner, 43:46.1 or 14.66% slower compared to overall winner
• Ellen Reynolds, 60-64 winner, 43:00.6 or 12.68% slower compared to overall winner
• Ingrid Trusler, 65-69 winner, 45:35.2 or 19.43% slower compared to overall winner
• Jane Jolly, 70-74 winner, 1:01:32.8 or 61.2% slower compared to overall winner
• Txaro Tomasena, 75-79 winner, 1:22:54.1 or 117% slower compared to overall winner

Relative Differences between the Male and Female Age Group Winners

It is interesting to note the differences between the male and female results of the different age group winners. Whether these differences are unique to this 3 km competition or true across the globe of open water swims or only true in short-distance open water swims as compared to marathon swims has yet been analyzed.

• The differences between age group winners among men between the ages of 25 and 60 is remarkably narrow and much more narrow than women between the ages of 26 and 60.
• The differences between age group winners among men between the ages of 30 and 49 is incredibly narrow that is somewhat mirrored among women of the same age range.
• Both among women and men, the speed of the age group winners over the age of 70 slows considerably compared to those in their 50’s and 60’s.
• Speed again slows considerably in both genders as the age of 80 is approached by women and men in their 80’s.

We would love to work with experienced statisticians, social scientists, and longevity experts in the swimming world to better understand these differences in performance among the various age group winners and swimmers in general.

https://youtu.be/9PfHWueT2YY

25-29 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Dmitrii Filippov, NIA 38:18.0
2. Andre Peterwitz, Germany 39:45.1
3. Marcus Joas, Germany 39:45.2
4. Martin Moreno Ojeda, Spain 39:51.6
5. Gian Guido Parenza, Switzerland 40:40.2

30-34 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Steven Claes, Belgium 35:41.8
2. Mikhail Nastopyrev, NIA 36:12.2
3. Bastian Schorr, Germany 36:47.7
4. Fabrizio Cavataio, Italy 37:08.5
5. Dante Favero, Switzerland 37:12.5

35-39 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Jaime Marques Velasco, Spain 35:41.5
2. Rafael Cabanillas, Spain 35:44.8
3. Eduard Mannanov, Spain 36:22.1
4. Edgaras Stura, Lithuania 36:30.5
5. Albert Mannanov, Spain 36:31.9

40-44 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Ioannis Drymonakos, Greece 35:47.9
2. Samir Barel, Brazil 35:59.1
3. Marco Pucci, Italy 36:16.5
4. Pip Bennett, Great Britain 38:55.4
5. Vadim Baranov, NIA 40:20.3

45-49 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Nicola Nisato, Italy 35:49.3
2. Benet Pons Rodriguez, Spain 35:56.6
3. Andrey Romanshkin, NIA 38:21.7
4. Juan Lu Martinez Luccani, Venezuela 38:46.0
5. George Savescu, Spain 38:47.0

50-54 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Luis Pijuan Oro, Spain 37:03.5
2. Igor Piovesan, Italy 37:05.5
3. Michael Dieckmann, Germany 39:25.0
4. Jens Ruthemann, Germany 39:33.3
5. Fabrizio Pescatori, Italy 39:44.3

55-59 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Alberto Carlo Bottini, Switzerland 37:34.6
2. Oliver Kusch, Germany 37:40.7
3. Kenton Jones, USA 39:44.9
4. Francesco Lanzone, Hong Kong 39:58.3
5. Heiko Krumbeck, Germany 40:07.9

60-64 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. John De Mestre, Australia 38:29.3
2. Jose Freitas, Portugal 40:31.2
3. Paolo Perrotti, Italy 40:35.0
4. Boyd Freeman, Ireland 40:47.0
5. Siarhei Aliashkevi, NIA 42:15.4

65-69 Men’s 3 km Top Five Results

1. Ken McMahon, Switzerland 39:48.1
2. Rinat Gilyazok, Estonia 43:12.1
3. Juan Cue, Puerto Rico 45:45.8
4. Rosario Cuce, Italy 45:55.5
5. Derek Sven Lund, Canada 48:20.7

70-74 Men’s 3 km Top Four Results

1. Steve Prescott, New Zealand 47:20.7
2. Larry Krauser, USA 47:24.9
3. Karl-Heinz Nottrodt, Germany 47:31.8
4. Rainer Fritsche, Germany 48:43.1
5. Maciej Slugocki, Australia 50:05.7

75-79 Men’s 3 km Results

1. Jean-Claude Lestideau, France 54:25.3
2. Duncan McCreadie, France 59:36.9
3. Stuart John McLellan, Great Britain 59:37.0
4. Jose Farre Ganduxe, Spain 59:56.6
5. Agis Zografos, Greece 1:00:41.9

80-84 Men’s 3 km Results

1. Cyril Baldock, Australia 57:18.5
2. Joachim Hintze, Germany 1:02:02.0
3. Tony Cherrington, Great Britain 1:03:17.7
4. Tony Forman, Australia 1:07:20.5
5. Michael Read, Great Britain 1:10:10.9

85-89 Men’s 3 km Results

1. David Cumming, Great Britain 1:16:30.5

Scatter Plots above designed by marathon swimmer, biostatistician, and FINIS ambassador Melodee Liegl.

NIA denotes Russian or Belarusian athletes.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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