BUDAPEST, Hungary, July 29. AFTER watching the Germans claim the bulk of medals during the initial two days of open water competition at the 28th LEN European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, the French countered in the marathon 25k event on Saturday.
Frenchman Gilles Rondy held off a hard charging Anton Sanachev of Russia to claim gold. Rondy captured the event title in 5:10:17.3, while Sanachev garnered silver in 5:10:18:2. Meanwhile, Stephane Gomez of France pocketed his country’s second medal of the event with a third-place 5:10:19.3 for bronze.
The women battle in the final open water event of the championships on Sunday with their chance at the 25k course.
Results
1 24 RONDY Gilles FRA 1981 5:10:17.3 0.0 20
2 35 SANACHEV Anton RUS 1978 5:10:18.2 0.9 17
3 23 GOMEZ Stephane FRA 1976 5:10:19.3 2.0 15
4 31 VOLPINI Andrea, ITA 1978 5:10:22.5 5.2 14
5 25 VENTURI Bertrand FRA 1985 5:10:38.6 21.3
6 21 VITEK Rostislav CZE 1976 5:11:43.1 1:25.8 13
7 34 KUDINOV Yury RUS 1979 5:12:17.3 2:00.0 12
8 32 VAN DER WEIJDEN Maarten NED 1981 5:12:30.7 2:13.4 11
9 33 KOSHKAROV Evgeny RUS 1982 5:12:33.4 2:16.1
10 26 BIRCHER Alan GBR 1981 5:12:53.5 2:36.2 10
11 27 FRANZ Toni GER 1983 5:14:02.4 3:45.1 9
12 28 STUDZINSKI Alexander GER 1983 5:17:24.1 7:06.8 8
13 30 GARGARO Claudio ITA 1972 5:27:12.9 16:55.6 7
14 22 LOPEZ Carlos ESP 1983 5:30:18.2 20:00.9 6
29 FORMENTINI Marco ITA 1970 DNF