The men’s 10K world open water swimming championships will be held today in Roberval, Canada. The man to beat is Thomas Lurz (GER), the 2009 world 10K champion. But Fran Crippen, Spyridon Gianniotis, Chip Peterson, Evgeny Drattsev, Daniil Serebrennikov, Chad Ho and the strong Italian and British teams are going to give him a run of his money.

With with six different changes of direction on each loop, the men will have to work out a total of 24 different buoy-to-buoy tangents while swimming tactically along the 10,000-meter course.

Former champions in this century’s world championships are listed below. Who will join this esteemed group? The champion – whoever it may be – will truly be strong, fast and tactical. May the best man win.

Get the latest information at Radio Canada here. The start list for today’s race is here.

2000 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Honolulu
5K: Evgeny Bezroutchenko (RUS)
10: David Meca (ESP)
25K: Yuri Kudinov (RUS)

2001 World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka
5K: Luca Baldini (ITA)
10K: Evgeny Bezroutchenko (RUS)
25K: Yuri Kudinov (RUS)

2002, Sharm el Sheikh
5K: Luca Baldini (ITA)
10K: Evgeny Koshkarov (RUS)
25K: Yuri Kudinov (RUS)

2003, Barcelona
5K: Evgeny Koshkarov (RUS)
10K: Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS)
25K: Yuri Kudinov (RUS)

2004, Dubai
5K: Grant Cleland (AUS)
10K: Thomas Lurz (GER)
25K: Brendan Capell (AUS)

2005, Montreal
5K: Thomas Lurz (GER)
10K: Chip Peterson (USA)
25K: David Meca (ESP)

2006, Naples
5K: Thomas Lurz (GER)
10K: Thomas Lurz (GER)
25K: Josh Santacaterina (AUS)

2007, Melbourne
5K: Thomas Lurz (GER)
10K: Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS)
25K: Yuri Kudinov (RUS)

2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seville
5K: Thomas Lurz (GER)
10K: Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS)
25K: Maarten van der Weijden (NED)

2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome
5K: Thomas Lurz (GER)
10K: Thomas Lurz (GER)
25K: Valerio Cleri (ITA)

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones