Valerio Cleri Makes It 2 For 2 For Italy

Valerio Cleri, the reigning 25K world champion who finished fourth in last year's 10K, continued the winning ways of Italy at today's 10K world championship. Playing his cards just right, Valerio bulled his way to the front on the last loop to win convincingly in 2:00:00 over Russians Evgeny Drattsev and Vladimir Dyatchin. In a race dominated by talk of the cooler water (17°C or 62.6°F) and several withdrawals.

In contrast to the women who all pushed the pace from the start, the men played much more of a cat-and-mouse game with a controlled pace, culminating in a furious last lap. For example, Valerio's four-lap splits were as follows: 30:39, 30:13, 30:52 and 29:15.

Petar Stoychev, a veteran of lac St-Jean competitions, who placed ninth today, said, "The top swimmers showed how fast they are. They are very, very fast. 10K is the most important distance in open water due to the Olympic marathon swim. I finished in the top ten."

Next year at the 2011 World Swimming Championships, the top ten finishers will automatically qualify for the 2012 London Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.

The final results are as follows:

1. CLERI Valerio (ITA), 2:00:59.3
2. DRATTSEV Evgeny (RUS), 2:01:00.6
3. DYATCHIN Vladimir (RUS), 2:01:03.0
4. CRIPPEN Francis (USA), 2:01:05.0
5. FERRETTI Luca (ITA), 2:01:07.8
6 LURZ Thomas (GER), 2:01:08.5
7. PETERSON Charles (USA), 2:01:10.0
8. CHERVYNSKIY igor (UKR), 2:01:12.9
9. STOYCHEV Petar (BUL), 2:01:13.0
10. DO CARMO Allan (BRA), 2:01:15.2
11. ELORZA Rodrigo (MEX), 2:01:17.5
12. VENTURI Bertrand (FRA), 2:01:18.0
13. WEINBERGER Richard (CAN), 2:01:20.6
14. CODEVELLE Julien (FRA), 2:01:28.3
15. BROWNE David (AUS), 2:01:56.9
16. FESENKO Sergiy (AZE), 2:02:14.5
17. TOBIN Simon (CAN), 2:02:17.3
18. LOPEZ Ivan (MEX), 2:02:20.3
19. REICHERT Christian (GER), 2:02:51.4
20. VANGENEUGDEN Tom (BEL), 2:03:01.7
21. ALCANTARA Filipe (BRA), 2:03:12.2
22. HO Chad (RSA), 2:04:44.5
23. DMITRIEV Michael (ISR), 2:05:45.1
24. ENDERICA OCHOA Ivan (ECU, 2:06:16.9
25. POSMOURNY Jan (CZE), 2:06:44.7
26. FICHTL Jakub (CZE), 2:09:42.4
27. SOLDO Tomislav (CRO), 2:13:11.5
28. SKRODZKI Michal (POL), 2:24:30.7

DNF: NOGUEIRA MONTERA Diego (ESP), UKRADYGA Kostiantyn (UKR), MAINSTONE Rhys (AUS), FOGG Daniel (GBR), HERVAS JADAR Fancisco Jose (ESP), ALLEN Thomas (GBR), RYCKEMAN Brian (BEL)
Disqualified: SOLDO Josip (CRO)
DNS: GIANNIOTS Spyridon (GRE)

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones