Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

As expected, it was a physical battle throughout the men’s FINA/HOSA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup race in La Patagones-Viedma (Maraton Patagones-Viedma International Open Water Swim) in Argentina.

But less unexpectedly, Simone Ruffini of Italy knocked off fast-charging Allan do Carmo and his Brazilian teammmate Diogo Andrade Villarinho.

This tough-fought victory bodes well for Ruffini who is looking to qualify for his first Olympics this summer in Kazan. It also bodes very well for the battle-hardened Brazilians who are coming off of their summer season.

With 48 men competing in the opening race of the 11-race FINA/HOSA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit, the Italian’s victory was a good early-season indicator that the Italian and Brazilian men will be a force to reckon with throughout this year.

The rest of the FINA/HOSA circuit includes the following stops:

Race #2 on March 13th: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Race #3 on April 18th: New Caledonia, France
Race #4 on May 2nd: Cancún, Mexico
Race #5 on June 20th: Balatonfured, Hungary
Race #6 on June 27th: Setúbal Bay, Portugal
Race #7 on July 23rd: Lac St-Jean, Canada (part of the Traversée internationale du Lac St-Jean)
Race #8 on July 31st: Lac Memphrémagog, Canada (part of the Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog)
Race #9 on August 8th: Lac Mégantic, Canada (part of the Traversée internationale du Lac Mégantic)
Race #10 on October 12th: Chun’an, China (Qiandao Lake that means Thousand Island Lake)
Race #11 on October 17th: Hong Kong

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