Olympic Marathon Swimming Finalists Announced

HYDE PARK, London. June 11. FINA announced the list of the 50 athletes (25 men and 25 women) who will compete in the Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km races at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The finalists were selected at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier held in Set?bal Bay, Portugal this weekend where several new medal contenders emerged: Haley Anderson and Eva Risztov on the women's side and Oussama Mellouli and Richard Weinberger who all proved they will have a major impact in the Serpentine where the marathon race will be held.

Mellouli and Haley, teammates on the Trojan Swim Club and both coached by Catherine Vogt, swam strategic races, playing to their strengths to win the Olympic qualifier. Weinberger and Risztov also proved they have the closing speed that will be required to stand upon the podium.

The imcomparable Petar Stoychev, who has done nearly everything in the sport, will also be one of the headliners in London in his fourth Olympics.

Several new countries will be represented on the Olympic stage in the marathon swim: Tunisia with Mellouli, Canada with Weinberger and Zsofia Balazs, Japan with Yasunari Hirai and Yumi Kida, Ecuador with Ivan Enderica Ochoa, Kazakhstan with Yuriy Kudinov, and New Zealand with Kane Radford and Cara Baker, Poland with Natalia Charlos, Croatia with Karla Sitic, Hong Kong with Wing Yung Natasha Terri Tang and Malaysia with Heidi Gan. Their representation will do wonders to help increase the awareness of open water swimming in their respective countries.

The two-stage qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games included the automatic selection of the fastest 10 swimmers at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai and the 15 remaining spots were decided this weekend in Portugal.

The women's finalists, with plenty of medal contenders, include:

Keri-Anne Payne (GBR)
Martina Grimaldi (ITA)
Marianna Lymperta (GRE)
Melissa Gorman (AUS)
Cecilia Biagioli (ITA)
Poliana Okimoto (BRA)
Jana Pechanova (CZE)
Angela Maurer (GER)
Swann Oberson (SUI)
Erika Villaecija (ESP)
Haley Anderson (USA)
Eva Risztov (HUN)
Yanqiao Fang (CHN)
Zsofia Balazs (CAN)
Ophelie Aspord (FRA)
Natalia Charlos (POL)
Anna Guseva (RUS)
Karla Sitic (CRO)
Wing Yung Natasha Terri Tang (HKG)
Yumi Kida (JPN)
Olga Beresnyeva (UKR)
Cara Baker (NZL)
Yanel Pinto (VEN)
Heidi Gan (MAS)
Jessica Roux (RSA)

The men's finalists in a tough field loaded with several medal contenders include:

Spyridon Gianniotis (GRE)
Thomas Lurz (GER)
Sergey Bolshakov (RUS)
Alex Meyer (USA)
Ky Hurst (AUS)
Francisco Jose Hervas (ESP)
Brian Ryckeman (BEL)
Julien Sauvage (FRA)
Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS)
Andreas Waschburger (GER)
Oussama Mellouli (TUN)
Richard Weinberger (CAN)
Petar Stoychev (BUL)
Valerio Cleri (ITA)
Troyden Prinsloo (RSA)
Yasunari Hirai (JPN)
Igor Chervynskiy (UKR)
Ivan Enderica Ochoa (ECU)
Arseniy Lavrentyev (POR)
Yuriy Kudinov (KAZ)
Erwin Maldonado (VEN)
Csaba Gercsak (HUN)
Kane Radford (NZL)
Mazen Aziz (EGY)
Daniel Fogg (GBR)

Courtesy of Open Water Source

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