Shelley Taylor-Smith captured the amazingly close finish between Evgeny Drattsev of Russia and Chad Ho of South Africa at the Santos, Brazil FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup where it appears that Chad just missed touching the finish pad, giving Evgeny the opportunity to claim the US$2,500 first prize.

According to Shelley, “Regardless of who leads the race, it all comes down to the speed of the swimmer in the final 200 meters of a 10K swim. After interviewing the national coaches at the recent FINA World Cup event in Santos, Brazil, they said there are two key elements when identifying a potential world-class 10K marathon swimmer: speed and a champion’s mindset.”

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones