Pilar Geijo, the 25-year-old marathon swimming star from Argentina, recently signed with blueseventy after being ranked second in the 2009 FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix rankings and leading the world rankings this year, joining 9-time world professional marathon swimming champion English Channel record holder Petar Stoychev on the blueseventy team.
blueseventy is confident that Pilar will similarly make her own headlines in open water swimming history, following in the footsteps of great Argentinian marathon swimmers from the past – Horacio Iglesias, Claudio Plit, Diego Degano, Antonio Abertondo, Alfredo Camarero, Pedro Candiotti, Silvia Beatríz Dalotto and Lilian Harrison.
Pilar and Peter both won the 16K FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix in April in Sumidero Canyon in southern Mexico. Earlier in the year, Pilar won the longest race in the world, the 88K Hernandarias-Parana FINA Grand Prix event in February while setting a new record time of 8 hours and 34 minutes.
This past weekend, she was an extremely close second to Italian Alessandra Romiti, by just eight seconds over 36K of ocean swimming from Capri to Napoli.
Dean Jackson of blueseventy said, “We’re working with some inspirational athletes at the moment, and are delighted to welcome Pilar to our team. She’s had some great results this year and her input can only help strengthen the development of our bespoke open water swimwear. blueseventy is currently the only manufacturer making suits specifically for open water swimmers. It’s a sport that we are completely immersed in, and we’re genuinely pleased to be working with Pilar, who is as tough as they come in the sport.”
The FINA Open Water Grand Prix continues with five remaining events this year. The current standings are as follows:
Women
1. Pilar Geijo (ARG), 58 points
2. Esther Nunez Morera (ESP), 55
3. Antonella Bogarin (ARG), 34
4. Shelley Clark (AUS), 32
5. Noelia Petti (ARG), 24
6. Alessandra Romiti (ITA), 20
7. Cecilia Biagioli (ARG), 15
8. Vanessa Garcia (ARG), 11
9. Nicoletta Simonazzi (ITA), 10
10. Martha Recio (ESP), 9
Men
1. Damien Blaum (ARG), 47
2. Andrea Volpini (ITA), 36
3. Rodolfo Valenti (ITA), 35
4. Alexander Studzinski (GER), 33
5. Petar Stoychev (BUL), 32
6. Evgenij Pop Acev (MKD), 18
7. Brendan Capell (AUS), 16
8. Gabriel Villagoiz (ARG), 15
8. Simone Ercoli (ITA), 15
10. Guillermo Bertola (ARG), 13
A total of 43 men from 21 countries and 31 women from 17 countries have participated in the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit.
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