Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
The top qualifier for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim is Aurélie Muller of France. She has an English-language tattoo imprinted on her foot, “chase your dreams“.
That she has been chasing her dream for three Olympic quadrennials. She initially qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic 10 km marathon swim, but finished a disappointing 21st. In 2012, she missed qualifying for her second Olympics.
In her third quadrennial, the 25-year-old is getting closer to realizing her dreams. She qualified for first when she won the 2015 FINA World Championships 10 km race in very convincing fashion, completely dominating the competition with a strong swim where she separated herself from a lead pack full of Olympic medalists and world champions by over 20 seconds.
The first qualification race was held in Kazan, Russia where the top 10 finishers qualified for the Rio Olympics are shown below.
First Qualification Race Women’s 10 km marathon swim qualifiers:
1 Aurélie Muller (FRA) 1:58:04.3
2 Sharon Van Rouwendaal (NED) 1:58:06.7
3 Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) 1:58:26.5
4 Rachele Bruni (ITA) 1:58:27.9
5 Anastasiia Krapivina (RUS) 1:58:28.6
6 Poliana Okimoto Cintra (BRA) 1:58:28.8
7 Isabelle Härle (GER) 1:58:30.0
8 Kaliopi Araouzou (GRE) 1:58:30.6
9 Haley Anderson (USA) 1:58:35.9
10 Éva Risztov (HUN) 1:58:36.4
In the second qualification race, the first ten male and female swimmers in addition to the fastest five swimmers from each continent (Asia, Americas, Europe, Africa, Oceania) will qualify for a total of 25 finalists in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.
15 remaining spots will be selected at the second women’s qualification race which will be held on June 11th in Setúbal Bay, along the Portuguese coast located 40 km south from Lisbon.
In the second qualification race, the first ten female swimmers in addition to the fastest five swimmers from each continent (Asia, Americas, Europe, Africa, Oceania) will qualify for a total of 25 finalists in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim. But there is also very importantly a swim-off between teammates from each country. That is, only one representative from each country will qualify.
The 51 women who will swim all-out to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Marathon Swim, against the entire field and against their teammate, include:
1 Souad Nefissa Cherouati, ALG
2-3 Julia Lucila Arino, ARG vs. Cecilia Elizabeth Biagioli, ARG
4-5 Chelsea Gubecka, AUS vs. Kareena Lee, AUS
6 Eva Bonnet, BEL
7 Alondra Castillo, BOL
8-9 Jade Dusablon, CAN vs. Stephanie Horner, CAN
10-11 Kristel Kobrich, CHI vs. Mahina Nicole Valdivia Dannenberg, CHI
12-13 Xin Xin, CHN vs. Siyu Yan, CHN
14 Karla Sitic, CRO
15-16 Jana Pechanova, CZE vs. Silvie Ryabova, CZE
17-18 Samantha Arevalo, ECU vs. Nataly Caldas Calle, ECU
19-20 Reem Mohamed Hussein Elsayed Kaseem, EGY vs. Dana Khaled Abdelmoneium Akl, EGY
21-22 Mireia Belmonte, ESP vs. Erika Villaecija, ESP
23-24 Merle Liivand, EST vs. Meribel Saar, EST
25-26 Danielle Huskisson, GBR vs. Keri-Anne Payne, GBR
27-28 Tiffany Wan Fung Lee, HKG vs. Hoi Man Lok, HKG
29-30 Ressa Kania Dewi, INA vs. Yessy Venisia Yosaputra, INA
31 Yumi Kida, JPN
32 Xeniya Romanchuk, KAZ
33 Heidi Gan, MAS
34-35 Martha Ruth Aguilar Ortega, MEX vs. Zaira Cardenas, MEX
36 Charlotte Webby, NZL
37-38 Justyna Dorota Burska, POL vs. Joanna Zachoszcz, POL
39-40 Angelica Maria, POR vs. Vania Neves, POR
41-42 Carmen le Roux, RSA vs. Michelle Weber, RSA
43 Spela Perse, SLO
44 Cherelle Tahnee Oestringer, SUI
45 Ellen Olsson, SWE
46-47 Ecem Donmez, TUR vs. Nilay Erkal, TUR
48-49 Krystyna Pachnishko, UKR vs. Sofiia Zubenko, UKR
50-51 Astrid Iturbe, VEN vs. Paola Perez, VEN
Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association