Courtesy of Janine Serell, Kalamata, Greece.
Lori King swam 30 km in 8 hours 56 minutes to win the women’s division and place third overall in the 29th Swimming Marathon of Messinian Gulf in northern Greece.
With the flags of USA, Greece, and Bermuda behind her, the 42-year-old won the winner’s traditional olive wreath. Her crew member Janine Serell took the photo right after her finish.
Friend Jaimie Monahan described the background of her swim, “This was a very special swim that Lori had been dreaming of for the past seven years. Her hard work and training definitely paid off with her finish as the first female and third overall in a great group of swimmers. She is one of the most talented and humble swimmers.”
King recalled her experience. “I met some pretty great people at this event. The first place finisher David Ibanez Navarro from Spain was incredible. His boat was moving so fast, I thought it was a fishing boat going out to sea. He finished in 8 hours 15 minutes. Stavros Charalambous from Cyprus finished second at 8 hours 52 minutes; he stayed steady and strong the entire way.
Both David and Stavros were there to greet me as I came out of the water. We were happy to be finished and all of us sharing a respect for each other and what we just swam. They are both great athletes, but also class acts. All of the swimmers exited the water with relief and exhaustion mixed with disbelief written on their faces that it was over.”
Official Results:
1. David Ibanez Navarro (Spain) 8 hours 10 minutes
2. Stavros Charalampous (Cyprus) 8 hours 52 minutes
3. Lori King (USA) 8 hours 56 minutes
4. Konstantinos Letsos (Greece) 9 hours 19 minutes
5.Ned Denison (Ireland) 9 hours 31 minutes
6. Attila Mányoki (Hungary) 9 hours 45 minutes
7. Nikolaos Ploumidis (Greece) 10 hours 35 minutes
8. Iosif Seristatidis (Greece) 10 hours 47 minutes
9. Sale Savel (Serbia) 10 hours 53 minutes
10. David Hynan (USA) 11 hours 4 minutes
11. Devon Clifford (USA) 11 hours 20 minutes
12. Sofia Psilolignou (Greece) 11 hours 55 minutes
13. Ioannis Lafazanos (Greece) 12 hours 0 minutes
14. Spyridon Rois (Greece) 12 hours 10 minutes
DNF Steven Minaglia (USA)
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