Julien Sauvage, Cecilia Biagioli Win First Leg of FINA Open Water Grand Prix 2012

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, January 23. THE first leg of the Grand Prix saw French Julien Sauvage and local hope Cecilia Biagioli, both 27 years old, capture the gold medal in Rosario (ARG) on Sunday January 22. A pack of 25 swimmers from eight countries took to the water.

France and Argentina occupied the majority of podiums with respectively three and two spots. Among men, Julien Sauvage starts off his open water swimming season in convincing fashion, winning by a fingernail (2h23m59s) over compatriot Romain Beraud (2h24m00s) while home hero Damian Blaum crossed the finish line a second later (2h24m01s).

In the women's field, Cecilia Biagioli won the Rosario race for the third time in-a-row, clocking 2h24m28s. Russian Anna Uvarova made a good performance, taking silver thanks to her 2h25m38s effort while France's Ophelie Aspord went for the bronze with a time of 2h37m29s. Reigning GP champion Pilar Geijo took fifth.

FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix 2012 calendar:

Race 1: January 22 in Rosario (ARG, 15km)
NEXT RACE: January 29 in Santa Fe-Coronda (ARG, 57km)
Race 3: February 5 in Hernandarias-Parana (ARG, 88km)
Race 4: June 17 in Capri-Napoli (ITA, 36km)
Race 5: July 28 in Lac St-Jean (CAN, 32km)
Race 6: August 4 in Lac Magog (CAN, 34km)
Race 7: August 5 in Sabac (SRB, 19km)
Race 8: August 11 in Ohrid Lake (MKD, 33km)

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